


Coffee and Skeletons

by ModernCoffee



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Aromantic, Aromantic Papyrus, Asexual Papyrus, F/M, Mentions of Queergender-phobia, Multi, Other, Queer-platonic-relationships, Reader doesn't like silence, Reader has a hearing aid, Reader has moderately-severe anxiety, Reader is Aceflux, Reader is Aspec, Reader is deaf, Reader is non-binary, Reader loves coffee, Reader reads a lot, Reverse Harem, Specifically Agender, Underfell, and depression, and hot chocolate, fellswap, heh, mentions of acephobia, or having their hearing aid off without music, outertale, qpps, qpr, reader's pronouns are they/them, romantic relationships, skytale - Freeform, underswap - Freeform, undertale - Freeform, unless its someone whos really close like papyrus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2019-08-25 15:46:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 27,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16663663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ModernCoffee/pseuds/ModernCoffee
Summary: getting kicked out was embarrassing, but your close friend Papyrus finding you crying in the corner of the library is even more embarrassing. At least, to you it is.You didn't expect to suddenly be swept up into the lives of a bunch of skeletons, nor did you expect to feel for them. Guess the world is full of surprises huh?





	1. Cue: Reader Panicking for a whole day

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Skeleton Squatters and the Landlady](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9816140) by [Tyrant_Tortoise](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tyrant_Tortoise/pseuds/Tyrant_Tortoise). 
  * Inspired by [Six Skeletons in Your Closet](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10453650) by [MsMK](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsMK/pseuds/MsMK). 



> Hi! I hope you enjoy this. I don't know how long this will be so.. x) 
> 
> Names:  
> \- UT!Sans: Vanilla/Comic/Sans  
> \- UT!Papyrus: Papyrus/Paps/papaya  
> \- US!Sans: Blueberry/Blue  
> \- US!Papyrus: Stretch/Honey  
> \- UF!Sans: Red  
> \- UF!Papyrus: Edge (Or as reader likes to call him, Hot Topic)  
> \- SF!Sans: Black/Blackberry  
> \- SF!Papyrus: Russ/Mutt
> 
> Buds who don't live there but visit:  
> \- HT!Sans: Axe  
> \- HT!Papyrus: Crooks  
> \- D(ance)T!Sans: Serif  
> \- D(ance)T!Papyrus: Latin  
> \- OT!Sans: Cosmic  
> \- OT!Papyrus: Nebula  
> \- ST!Sans: Winter  
> \- ST!Papyrus: Snow  
> \- Dream, Fresh, ink and error don't have nicknames
> 
> I don't have an upload schedule, simply because I get stressed by schedules and never manage to stick to them.
> 
> If you want to contact me, my tumblr is Moderncxffee but I have a undertale/deltarune fanacc which is moderncoffeeunderground! feel free to drop by :D
> 
> \- PLEASE NOTE THAT TRIGGER WARNINGS WILL BE HERE AT EACH CHAPTER -  
> This chapter's TW's are:  
> \- Being outed, Panic Attacks, Nightmares and mentions of possible past abuse.  
> \- also, mentions of reader taking antidepressants and meds to help with their nightmares

Your heart is pounding as you reach the library, the cold numbing your face. You feel your phone vibrating in your pocket, but you ignore it. You know who it is, and you don’t want to deal with him. He’s ruined your life as it is.

You sigh as you enter, the librarian waving to you and saying hello. You feel less tense, and grin. “Hey!” you say as you pass her, heading to the corner where you usually study. You set your books, research folder and laptop down, grabbing your pencil case which contains the highlighters you need. You decide to listen to some music, and put your phone next to your pencil case while you plug your headphones into your laptop and turn off your hearing aid. You nod your head along to the song playing, smiling as you start finishing the highlighting of your resource sheets.

Once you finish highlighting, you go on to filling out the About Sheets - which is where you provide proof of how reliable the source is, what questions it contributes to and what the link or book is. Eventually you start to bore yourself with the sheets, and decide to take a break. Stopping the music, taking off your headphones and turning your hearing aid back on, you pick up your phone, almost immediately regretting it as you see the pile of messages left from friends and your ex. You bite your lip, deciding its easier to rip the bandaid off in one go rather than slowly rip it off - you unlock your phone, and start looking through the messages from a couple of friends. Both of them saying they hope you’re alright. You smile softly at that. You then take a deep breath and start looking through the messages your ex has left. You almost throw your phone on the table after reading the first message. Fuck this.

You hold your head in your hands, tears running down your cheeks and arms. Why, why does this have to happen. You just want to be accepted. You just want to be loved. It’s at that moment that you feel someone sitting next to you, and you hear papyrus’s voice. It’s very quiet - which is almost unnerving with how loud he usually is. “Hey.. hey Y/N, is everything okay?” your holding back too many tears to answer back, and he starts packing up your work. “How about we go and get a hot drink? Take a break?” You nod, feeling grateful.

Papyrus’s arm is around your shoulders, carrying his and your bag. “T-thanks” your voice is hoarse, the cold making it worse as you lean close to Papyrus. You don’t usually feel comfortable with physical touch, but Papyrus feels safe. Feels almost like home. He leads you to his car, putting both bags in the back seats before jumping into the driver's seat, you sit in the the front passenger seat. He starts talking about his day, trying to break the silence. His attempt makes you feel somewhat better, and you smile a little at him.

After a 20 minute ride, you finally arrive at the cafe. It’s small and warmly lit, the walls a dark brown while the floor is birch planks. He lets you choose where you want to sit, and you decide on the window seat. Looking at the cloudy, dark sky feels almost comforting. You barely hear Papyrus asking what you’d like to drink and eat. You feel guilty, but say “a mocha will do, thank you”. He nods cheerfully, and goes to order the drinks and brings back a mocha mint muffin and a few cookies to snack on. Papyrus asks about how your research folder and essay are going, he doesn’t get much of a response apart from a thumbs up.

He looks at you worriedly, as the drinks are placed in front of you both. He’s decided on herbal tea, it’s relaxing to him. “What’s happened, Y/N?” he prods, taking a sip from his tea. “I- I’m homeless. Got k-kicked out” the tears come flooding back, and he holds your hand gently. “Do you want to tell me why? or would you rather just sit here in quiet” he moves over to your side, and holds you close. You just cry, and nod. You don’t often cry, and when you do it’s not for long. Papyrus has seen you cry before, only lasted about 2 minutes. This time, it lasted 5.

“He outed me” you whisper, as the tear flow starts to slow. You look up at Papyrus, his face in the expression of anger. You have never, ever seen Papyrus angry. It’s genuinely terrifying. He then moves away a little, passing you your cup. “I have to make a call okay? I’ll be right back” he tries to say with his normal energy, but he struggles to mask the anger and hurt in his voice. He hates seeing you like this.

He steps outside, calling sans. His foot taps impatiently on the concrete at he looks across the street at the park.  
“Heyya paps, what’s up?” His brother answers.  
“I have a problem”  
“Uh… is everything okay? You don’t sound okay” Papyrus rolls his eyes, and holds back the urge to yell.  
“I found one of my friends crying in the library, they’ve been kicked out and need a place to stay” he grumbles. San’s is taken aback from Papyrus’s tone - he’s never heard him like this. “Do we have a spare room?” Paps winces as he hears edge yelling in the background accompanied by sans sigh. “I believe so. They can stay, until they find a new place. From what you’ve told me they seem okay”  
“Thanks, brother!” Papyrus replies, his voice has energy again.

You watch him walk inside, pocketing his phone as he smiles at you. “I was talking to my brother, and we have a spare room at our place. You’re more than welcome to stay” He sits back down in his original seat, drinking his tea before it gets any colder. You’re surprised by his sentence. You couldn’t do that, could you? You feel the guilt gnawing at you. It’s not fair on them. As if Papyrus could sense your worry and guilt, he puts a hand on your shoulder and reassures you that it’ll be okay.

You end up agreeing hesitantly, and Papyrus lets you finish your Mocha before getting back in the car and heading to the Motel you’re staying in. You continuously apologize and thank him on the way to the Motel, before arriving and grabbing all of your belongings and signing out at the desk.

It’s only a few bags. About 4; basically whatever you were able to grab before being forced out of the house. You both put them in the back, and get back in and head to his place. It’s a 40 minute drive, which is almost surprising with how small new zealand is - specifically wellington, but you’re not complaining. During the ride he tells you about everyone who stays there: Sans, Himself, Blue, Stretch, Red, Edge, Russ and Black. Occasionally dream, ink, Axe, Crooks, Serif and this dude called fresh visits? Fresh is a weird name, but considering the other names you’re not that surprised.

You eventually arrive, after driving up a rather scary road (multiple times you thought you were going to fall off the edge. They really need to get some sort of barrier built here to make it safer so no one goes flying off-). Once he’s parked the car, you get out and are met with another skeleton. A short, tired skeleton with a blue hoodie. “Y-you must be sans..?” you ask as you get out of the car. Sans nods “you know it, came to help bring your stuff to the house. It’s a bit of a walk” you nod back, and grab the bag with all of your technology and the other bag with your school work.

On the drive here, the clouds had started dispersing so now the sun is beating down. Still cold, but the sun makes everything so beautiful. Sans is holding a bag with all of the clothing you could grab, while papyrus is holding the bag filled with books, pillows, candles and soft toys. Sans leads you down a few steps, down a path through the bush and over a bridge that goes over the valley below. The house is massive, sitting on the side of the hill. You can see a skeleton sitting on a deck out from the lounge, that is towering off the side of the hill.

Once you make it to the door, Papyrus announces that he’s home. He takes the bag he’s carrying up the stairs directly across from the door, and you follow, sans behind you. You have to hold in gasps of awe, as you walk by a few rooms, to the one at the end of the hallway. The sun is streaming in, the room is light and warm. You’re feeling giddy now, and you start thanking sans and papyrus more, feeling incredibly grateful. They leave you to examine your room and unpack.

On the wall where the door is, there’s a bookshelf on the wall and a desk next to it. The wall next to it, at the back is also a solid wall, while the two other walls are covered in ceiling to floor windows. The walls are a nice light cream colour, the floor a dark wood plank, you can’t figure out what kind of tree the wood belongs to. You’re smiling so much it physically hurts, and you decide to start unpacking your school work. You place all of your study binders (mostly filled to the brim with information about virus types, how they work and what family they belong in. There’s also history work - mostly past pandemic and epidemic events, and world war II study sheets).

You then put your laptop on the desk, along with your dreadful phone. You notice the plug extension to the electrical socket, and start plugging in the wires for your laptop charger and phone charger. You gently place your pencil case next to your laptop, and take a moment to look at your bed. It’s been made, with a pastel green cover-sheet and a matching pillow. You grab your soft toys and throw pillows you brang, you can’t sleep without your throw pillows, they’re so comforting to hug when you sleep.

You notice there’s a small table in the corner between the walls covered in windows. You put your candles and a book there, and put the rest of your books on the bookshelf next to the desk. Maybe now that you’re away from them.. You should get an agender flag for you room. You think about it as you finish putting everything away, including your clothing in the cube box-storage.

You jump when you hear a cough behind you, and try to look over while your putting the last of your shirts in one of the cubes.. “U-uh.. hello?” Once you finish putting the last of your clothes away, you turn around to see who it is. You feel kind of awkward, a tall skeleton - presumably papyrus’s height? Is wearing a big orange sweater and brown shorts and staring at you while leaning against your door frame. Why do you have to deal with anxiety, you probably look like a deer frozen in headlights. He chuckles, his voice is almost what you’d consider smooth as honey, pretty deep too. You try to fight the light blush trying to overcome you as you feel yourself sweating even more.  
“I’m stretch” he walks over, reaching his hand out. You flinch.  
“... Y-Y/N” you stutter, grabbing his hand and shaking it.  
“Are.. you okay?”  
“I-I’m fine. Uh.. I just finished unpacking so i-i’ll be down stairs s-soon”  
He nods, and decides to leave you alone and walks out of the room. You give yourself a moment to breathe, wiping your sweaty hands on your leggings.

As you walk out of your room, you see Papyrus looking at you. As soon as he sees you, his face lights up. “There you are! Is it okay if I introduce you to everyone now? Or would you prefer a house tour first” You think for a moment, and then decide on the house tour. Papyrus tells you who’s bedrooms are next to you (Papyrus and Sans’s, Blue and Stretch’s rooms are across from sans and paps). Downstairs, is the first floor. When leaving the stairs, the bathroom is directly to your right, lounge directly to your left. It’s a big open plan, in an big L shape which is where the Kitchen and Lounge are connected. Stretch is sitting on a couch nearby, across from the dining room table which is behind the few couches is a deck that has a sliding door. The view is of the boardwalk and the bay, forest surrounding the house. On the longer side of the table, across from the back of the couches is two big glass doors. It leads to a big backyard, A couple of garages near the back, there’s a big garden of flowers and vegetables, A swing tied to a tree, a rectangle outdoor table with chairs.

Someone was watering the flowers, but you were too distracted ask who they were. Paps pointed to the dirt path that lead down, saying to be cautious. You nodded in response. He leads you back inside, and shows you the set of stairs going down next to the other set of stairs. He brings you down the steps, pointing out the guest bedrooms, and then Black, Russ, Red and edges rooms down the hallway leading left. In front of you was a game room however. Table tennis, pool, consoles, topped off with the floor to ceiling windows. You’re so giddy that you turn around and hug Paps tightly, tears starting to leave your eyes. “Thank you so much Papyrus, I don’t deserve this” “You do deserve this though” he mutters.

He lets you explore, saying how he wanted to check on the veges. You nodded and grinned as you looked around. This place was so big and beautiful. You don’t hear someone walking up behind you, and shriek when someone says “HI!”. you whirl around and see someone who looked just like sans, but with a similar personality and fashion sense as Papyrus. “Oh my gosh i’m so sorry for getting such a fright I-” he cuts you off. “DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT! I’M BLUE!” You try not to gush about how adorable he is, and tell him your name instead.

You both ended up having a really intense table tennis game, almost broke the table and one of the windows, and scared a couple of skeletons more than once. You were laughing so hard by the end that you weren’t paying attention to the ball as Blue hit it. It hit right in the middle of your forehead. Blue looked worried, but you fell to your knees from laughing so hard. Blue rushed over, asking if you were okay. You just laughed it off. “You should’ve seen your face Blue!” Blue joins you in laughing, and you both end up on the floor giggling away.

-

Stretch is surprised to find his bro and you lying on the ground, giggling. You both sounded like you were having fun, he could hear your laughter from upstairs. Papyrus seemed really happy and tearful that you were laughing, muttering about how you deserved this happiness.

“Hey bro. Looks like you made a friend” he chuckles, and Blue sits up. “HI BROTHER! WE HAD A TENNIS TABLE COMPETITION!” He exclaimed. I grinned, I hadn’t seen Blue so vibrant before. “Well dinner’s almost ready”. I heads back upstairs, listening to you telling Blue a joke and laughing at Blue’s loud groan.  
“They’re settling in well huh” I mutters to Sans.  
“I’m glad. Papyrus was really mad on the phone when he explained that they had been kicked out.”  
Stretch winced at that. “What ‘appened exactly?” Sans shrug is the only response he got as you and Blue raced each other upstairs, almost bowling over Red. Red had just got home too. “Hey!” Red shouted, looks like someone forgot to tell Red there’s a new roommate. He doesn’t miss the way you flinch at the yell.

-

You’re breathless as you stop, your content state being thrown out the window as soon as a gruff voice yelled at you. You couldn’t stop the flinch, heart starting to race. You look for Papyrus, and in a failed attempt to find him start speed walking away to find him. You find him around the corner, and hold his hand. He notices the panic immediately, and takes you outside to sit in the sun. “Hey, Y/N. It’s Going To Be Okay. Take A Deep Breath With Me Alright?” He slowly inhales, and you copy him.  
You stay there with him for a while, doing breathing and grounding exercises. You eventually calm down, and Papyrus decides you’ll be fine without him now. He holds out his hand, and you grab it. You trust Papyrus so much, it’s hard not to. He’s already been there for you so much, knows all your deepest fears, anxieties, triggers… even a touch of your past, but you’ll never feel comfortable enough with anyone to explain that.

He leads you inside, and you smile gently. You’re absolutely wrecked after all of the emotional outbursts and anxiety. You honestly feel like skipping dinner to sleep instead, but Papyrus makes you sit down next to him, Blue on your other side. “Are You Alright Y/N?” Blue looks at you, pouting almost. “Y-yeah i’m fine blue. Don’t worry” you smile nervously, grabbing a patty and making a burger. It’s mostly cheese and tomato sauce with the patty and bun.

You look at everyone at the table, Sans sitting next to Papyrus, Stretch at the end of the table next to Blue. There’s a pair of skeletons that look like they just walked out of edgy-town, and you look at them curiously. There’s a pair similar to Blue and Stretch, but the short skeleton is in black and purple, with cracks on his skull. The tall skeleton is wearing a fluffy coat, and orange and black clothing. You ask papyrus who those four are, and he explains who’s who. You nod, thanking him after.

Once you’ve eaten some of your dinner, you sigh tiredly. “Hey paps.. Where the cups..” He chuckles, you’re very cute when you’re sleepy he decides. “I’ll Grab It. What Did You Want?” “w-water” you stutter, blushing slightly. He catches on, passing the cup once he’s filled it. “Do You Need A Place To Store Your Meds? Or Is It Fine In Your Room?” the way he’s looking at you reminds you of a worried mother, and you have to fight a chuckle. “Paps I’ll be fine”. He lets you go to your room.

Once you’re in, you close the door and sigh in relief. You’re so tired.. ‘just need to get these meds down and then I can sleep..’ you put the cup on the desk, digging through your bag when you realize, you never got your meds when you were kicked out. You groan, trying not to cry. Why are you so needy? It’s not fair on Papyrus.

You chuck those thoughts away, leaving your room on the hunt for Papyrus. It wasn’t hard to find him, he was sitting in the lounge talking to Blue animatedly. You came over and curled up next to him, Papyrus looking shocked and then gently smiling at you. “I Thought You Were Going To Bed?” you feel yourself shaking a little.  
“I u-uh..”  
“Hm?”  
“I never got my meds.. When I-” You choke on the sentence.  
Papyrus looks pale, something you didn’t think was possible.  
“Alright. I’ll Get Sans To Get Them Tomorrow Okay?” He wraps his arm around your shaking body. Blue looks confused, and then sits next to you.  
“What’s Going On?” Blue asks Papyrus, and he just shakes his head.  
“Personal”. Blue nods in response, rubbing his hand on your arm.

“Would A Hot Chocolate Help Miss?” Blue asks brightly, and you don’t fight the tiny smile that grows on your face. “Y-You don’t have to-” Blue looks almost cross as you say that. “I WILL GLADLY MAKE YOU A HOT CHOCOLATE. DO YOU WANT ONE?” you huff. “Yes please, thank you Blue” He runs off, you can hear pots being pulled out and stuff clanging.

“Y/N… Doesn’t One Of The Meds Help With Your Nightmares?” Papyrus is concerned, worried, he knows you have bad nightmares sometimes. Sometimes he’ll find you asleep in the library because you were woken up by a bad nightmare late at night or early in the morning and couldn’t go back to sleep. He remembers when you first told him that you were nervous about the meds, worried they would make it worse instead. But he had told you you’ll be fine, that you needed to trust your doctor from the Mental Health Ward. You were grateful for that, because you really do need to trust your doctor more. You nod quietly, dropping your head in your hands and groaning, quietly muttering “fuck” under your breath.

“Will You Be Alright? You Know My Door Is Always Open If You Need Me” He whispers. You look up at him and give him a weak smile. Blue walks over, holding a mug with a cat on it. “HERE MISS Y/N! I MADE IT SWEET JUST LIKE YOU” you take it with a thank you, giggling at him calling you sweet. You lean back and slowly drink your hot chocolate. You’d be lying if you said you weren’t scared to go to sleep. You’ve forgotten to take your meds before, made your life hell for a couple of days.

You listen to Papyrus and Blue talking about puzzles, and you smile to yourself. You feel safe here. With a hot chocolate, listening to your best friend and already-friend talk excitedly. You hadn’t realized your eyes were closed, you were so relaxed, for once. You open your eyes, to find Sans is sitting on the couch across from you. You give him a smile and wave, and he grins.

You quickly finish your hot chocolate, putting the mug on the coffee table and saying you’ll be right back. You go to your room, changing into PJ pants and a tank top with a loose, airy sweater so you won’t die from the warmth. You look for a certain book, feeling glad as soon as you spot it. You continue reading from where you left off, walking down the hallway, down the stairs and to the lounge, only to accidentally walk into a skeleton on the way. “O-Oh my gosh i’m- i’m so sorry!!” You’re sweating, and hoping he’s not mad. The skeleton is Red, if you remembered correctly. Edgy but also looks soft. He just laughs and moves out the way “Sorry for yelling at you earlier by the way kitten”. You feel gross at the pet name, but nod to him before heading back to the couch.

You drop back into your seat, grabbing a pillow to hug while you read. You’re so absorbed in the book that you don’t notice the tall skeleton looming over you. You wince at a scene in the book, relating to Dekka. You continue reading, chuckling occasionally, grinning in excitement and almost getting giddy over Cruz. So cool to have a genderfluid character in a book! A loud “AHEM” breaks you out of your concentration, making you jump a little. You put the bookmark in the place, feeling irritated that someone interrupted you. “Uh.. Can I help you?” You look up, grumpy.

“I’VE COME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF HUMAN” he sneers at the word human, and you can’t help but roll your eyes and rub your forehead. You really just wanted to keep reading. “Please, make it quick. You’ve interrupted my reading, and I was really enjoying the book”. You were confused at where this confident streak came from, usually you’d be a stuttering, shy mess. Power of books you guess?

“IM THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE PAPYRUS" he exclaims, posing. His cape flutters and you’re taken aback. “E-edge right?” you look up at him. “YUP”. You stare at him, wondering why he’s just standing there. “Uh… are you going to do anything else? Or can I go back to reading?” he snorts, rubbing his forehead. “YOU MAY, CONTINUE READING YOUR PATHETIC BOOK”.

You lean against Papyrus, continuing your book. By 12 it was just you and paps in the lounge, a lamp on next to you as you continue to read. You didn’t notice your eyes fluttering shut, or you dropping your book as you fell asleep. Papyrus chuckles, picking up your book and bookmark so he make sure you don’t lose your page. You had almost finished the book too! He noted that you were a fast reader. He went upstairs and grabbed a blanket from one of the laundry closets, and draped it over you. He whispered goodnight, turning off the lamp leaving you to sleep as he went to his room.

-

There was a loud screech and then a thump, alerting sans. What the fuck is going on? He teleports downstairs, seeing you in a bundle on the floor. Oh. You must’ve fallen off in your sleep. He goes close to pick you up and lift you back on the couch, but once he’s next to you he can hear you sniffling and saying “no” over and over again. You’re having a nightmare. He rubs his forehead, not able to do much. It’d probably be worse to wake you up, so he lifts you back onto the couch, heading to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. What time was it? The clock tells him its 3 am, and he sighs.

He hears someone walking down the stairs, not surprised to see stretch. “Wha' was the noise?” he mumbles, gladly accepting the cup of coffee sans points in his direction. “Y/N. Havin’ a nightmare”.

They both stand at the counter, talking about today’s plans. Sans mentions how he wants to go get the rest of Y/Ns stuff, and stretch gives him a weird look. “They got kicked ou’ heh”. Stretch rubs his face. “Want me to help?” Sans looks up at him surprised. “If you want..” Stretch takes that as a yes.

They spend the next 3 hours planning on how they’d get your stuff, and whether they should just go in and take whatever they could that was left in your room, or ask you to come with and demand to be let back in the house to get your items.

Their conversation cut off when you scream, sitting up quickly. You could feel yourself panicking, and try to take deep breaths. “Just a nightmare. You’re safe” you mutter to yourself. You don’t notice the skeletons behind you, or the light from the kitchen filtering behind you. You manage to stay calm, but it doesn’t stop the tears from falling down your cheeks.

“Lemme go talk to her” Stretch mumbles to sans, getting up quietly from the table. He walks over, saying hi quietly to let you know he’s there so he doesn’t give you a fright, sitting in front of you. He watches your nails dig into your wrist under your hoodie - as a way of grounding yourself.  
“Hey.. ‘re you okay?” Stretch reaches out, as soon as he makes physical contact you flinch.  
“Don’t.. Like touch. S-Sorry”  
“No-no i should’ve asked first”  
The silence is almost deafening, you’re surprise your hearing aid hasn’t fallen off yet. You thank him as he passes you a tissue.  
“Don’t worry about me” but you know, somehow, that he will worry. Even if you barely know him. “Come on, let’s get some coffee” you perk up at the sound of coffee. You feel better, dull pain of your nails digging into your wrist helped ground you and Stretch made you feel calm.

You stand by the couch, looking at Sans thinking he didn’t know you were staring at him. You couldn’t help but stare, the sunrise making him look beautiful. Since when were skeletons beautiful? You don’t even give yourself a moment to think about it, and look away. Stretch finishes pouring you a cup of hot coffee, and waves at you to come over to the table. Once you sit down and he passes you the cup, you sigh happily and take a long sip.

“So uh.. Kid, we were thinking about going back to.. Your old house to get the rest of your stuff” Sans looks nervous as he finishes the sentence, your eyes going wide as you choke on your coffee in shock. You manage to cough enough to feel better, but there’s still an uncomfortable itch at the back of your throat.

“I-” you can’t think of what to say. Maybe you should? Stand up to your family-no, blood relatives that you no longer call family. You eventually nod, you’ll be able to get your meds too. “Be ready by 10 am, that’s when we’re leaving”. You slump in your seat, feeling wearing and tired. “Okay”.

You take your mug of coffee to your room, grateful that your room is so warm. You sit at your desk, a headache forming. You should shower and get changed.. Did they even have a bathroom? You can’t remember. Stupid memory. You ask Papyrus where the shower is, and he shows you the way. You thank him, and go back to your room to grab a change of clothing and towels. When you leave the bathroom, you feel better and more awake. Ready to face what lay ahead for the day.


	2. Already feeling like home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You take a nap with Sans in the car, Edge fucks up and makes up for it with chores, and you start to feel at home when you cook dinner with Papyrus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW:  
> \- Hints at abuse. Mention of taking meds. Edge not knowing when to back down when it came to asking someone about their identity. Also hints at transphobic ex-family at the beginning.
> 
> ♥
> 
> i'm so glad this is done ;u; I didn't have much time yesterday, so I spent most of today finishing it. I've checked over a few times, but if you notice any mistakes please let me know!  
> Also, I was going to rewrite a chunk of it, because I felt like i rambled too much about certain things (I was excited to write about it so-). I hope the ramblings aren't annoying, if they are please let me know and i'll happily rewrite the chapter. but, as the saying goes, "you're your worst critique" so for all I know it might actually be good xD
> 
> Thank you so much for all the comments on chapter 1!! I've been really giddy reading that people were enjoying it already and were excited for future chapters.
> 
> From here, it'll be mostly Papyrus/Reader (- in a qpr) but eventually the reader will grow close to everyone else. When that happens, then there will be more feelings and drama, and it won't be the reader only trusting Paps.
> 
> ((side note: eventually you might see me putting in book series or bands etc, I'm really nervous to at the moment, because i'm scared of being judged for my music tastes, but I'm getting there!! The 1975 is such a good band lsdbfhdsf also I've been really hooked on Mantra by bmth. I always have since it came out but I was listening to it most of the time while writing this chapter xD))

You step out of the car, feeling better than yesterday. Edge gets out from next to you, while Sans and Stretch get out from the front seats. You didn’t expect Edge to be coming along, but it makes sense. He can be really intimidating. You feel anxiety growing at the sight of your.. old house. Stretch puts a hand on your shoulder, giving you a nod and you smile at him. You take a deep breath, and start walking up the short driveway to the front door.

Sans, Stretch and Edge are standing in a line behind you - which is kind of freaking you out because of how much taller they all are. You knock loudly, waiting for the sounds of someone running up the hallway. Instead, you hear someone yelling, and then someone quietly walking up to the door. The door is opened, and there’s a young-ish looking child looking up at you. You’re almost shocked, you’ve never seen this kid before. You’re a single child.. So what is going on?- “Hi! Who are you!” the child’s voice is rather squeaky. “I-i’m.. Um.. Is Carol there?” The child nods and runs down the hallway. “There’s someone at the door for you!”.

As you hear the sounds of Your mot- Carol, walking up, you can't help the fear starting to build up in your chest. Stretch asks if it's okay if he touches you, and you nod silently. His hand rests against your arm, fingers moving in a circle to comfort you and keep you calm.

“It's you! What are you doing here?!” A voice screeches in front of you making you jump. “I've come to collect the rest of my stuff” you mumble.  
“What was that?! Speak up you Patheti-” she isn't able to finish her sentence as Edge steps in front of you. “DON'T TALK TO HER LIKE THAT” was there a growl in his voice? Carols expression looked as if he had slapped her. You felt Stretch's hand leave your arm, but not hearing Stretch and Sans leaving. You spend most of the time hiding behind Edge, but occasionally feeling so emotionally hurt that you’d start arguing with Carol (which, strangely, has made Edge respect you a little. Standing up to someone who meant the world to you, who’s yelling horrible things? That’s is someone who deserves an inkling of respect).

-

Sans gives stretch a look of worry, and they nod to each other. It was obvious that the lady wouldn't let you all in, so he 'took a shortcut’ with Stretch. You had told him before turning up what your room looked like if he had to get stuff from your room himself. He was almost surprised. It’s a nice, small room with a loft bed, a mirror on top of a small bookshelf that held an abundance of books, there’s a corkboard on the wall with fairy lights around it. Your bed has a couple more pillows left, and there’s a box underneath with all of your blankets and other soft toys. He also noticed the amount of candles you have. Why did you need so many? He helps Stretch put your clothing in a black plastic bag, making sure to put your shoes in there too. While helping, he uses his magic to put some books in another bag, eventually all of the books are in, including a few journals and your corkboard. It seemed to have some important stuff, especially little messages saying “don’t give up” and “you’re worth it” - statements similar to those are there too.

Sans looks at your desk, noticing a box underneath. It’s a small plastic hamper box, orange with circles on the side. There’s old research folders, books filled with essays and a few photos of you with a guy. He looks over at Stretch, noticing he’s gotten all of the pillows, blankets and soft toys left behind. Sans grabs the candles and puts them in the box, and also grabs the small succulent plant on your window sill. It looks like it’s been well looked after, a lot of love put into the plant. Stretch gathers the rest of what he assumes is important, including hearing aid batteries, streamer, boxes, posters and cds (He also quickly teleports to the kitchen to grab all of your meds, well; whatever had your name on it. He goes back to your room before anyone hears or spots him).

“Let’s get going” Stretch whispers to Sans, and Sans nods. Stretch teleports himself to the car, Sans follows after him. Edge is standing at the car, looking pissed off. You’re crying next to him. Once everything is put in the boot, they take off before the residents notice all of your stuff is gone. Edge is sitting shotgun this time, Stretch driving and Sans in the back next to you. Sans shuffles close to you.  
“You can hug me, y’know kid”  
You sniffle, awkwardly nodding. You hesitate before leaning against him.  
“Wha’ happened?”  
“...”  
“THAT WRENCH WAS YELLING SLURS AND WHAT I ASSUMED IS HATEFUL LANGUAGE. I SLAPPED HER” you chuckle at the part where he mentions he slapped Carol.  
Sans smile is more softer when he hears your chuckle. “Do y’wanna get some food on the way home?” He’s looking at you, and you sigh. “Alright..” Your voice is quiet, you’re exhausted from the emotional outburst. Second day in a row of Emotional Outbursts. Everyone must think your a crybaby at this point. “Hey Stretch, mind going to Grillby’s before we get home?” Stretch hums. “Sure”.

You fall asleep after a few minutes, the quiet chatter between the skeletons and the comfort of the car lulling you to sleep. Sans risks lifting up your head so he can put a sweater on his shoulder so your head doesn’t hurt when you wake up, you’re too deep into sleep to notice. They don’t wake you up when they arrive at grillby’s, Sans stays in the car with you while Stretch and Edge go in and order the food, asking if each meal can be in a container since they couldn’t stay to eat. Grillby nods, making the meals.

“What Is With That Girl?”  
“Person, Edge. They’re a person”  
“THAT ACTUALLY MAKES WHAT THAT WRENCH WAS YELLING MAKE SENSE”  
“Oh yeah, what was even said?” Stretch leans back on the counter, looking at Edge. “Mostly About How She Was A Freak.. Sin.. All That Shit” Edge mumbles. Stretch sighs. “Mm. Yeah that explains why they were kicked out. Homophobic?”  
“NOPE. THEY’RE- UH, TRANS? I THINK. I OVERHEARD PAPYRUS TALKING TO VANILLA- SOMETHING ABOUT NON-BINARY”  
“Oh-” It clicks together in Stretch’s head, and he groans.  
“They must’ve tried comin’ out or somethin’” Edge shrugs. “ASK PAPYRUS” Edge huffs. As soon as Grillby mentions that the orders are done, Stretch thanks him and leaves with Edge stomping behind him. “Why d’you care about them anyway?” Stretch asks as he gets in the car. “I...I DON’T KNOW” Edge looks confused, he feels like he’s known you before. “I FEEL LIKE.. I SHOULD KNOW THEM ALREADY. ALSO, WATCHING THEM STAND UP TO THEIR EX-FAMILY MEMBER GAINED A LITTLE BIT OF RESPECT FROM ME”. Stretch nods. It isn’t often that they have.. Open talks, but it’s a nice change of pace from Edge being grumpy and constantly yelling at someone. Edge seems more relaxed around him; around Stretch.

Sans had fallen asleep too, both of you being woken up by Edge when you all arrived at home. “WAKE UP, HUMAN”. His loud voice makes you jump awake, banging your head on the car roof, which causes Sans to wake up, confused as he sees you rubbing the back of your head. “Thanks, Edge” you mumble. You get out, Sans follows you out the car. Everyone grabs a bag or two, except Edge. He’s holding lunch though, you kind of thought he’d walk off ahead of you all, but he stays at the back.  
“HUMAN”  
“Uh.. yeah?” you look over your shoulder as you reach the bridge.  
“WHAT.. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM ABOUT YOUR GENDER?” he hesitates at what, not wanting to offend you (not that he cares, of course!).  
“I um” You don’t even know how to react. “I don’t- feel comfortable with this conversation” You hope Edge doesn’t pry. Looks like your hope fell on deaf ears (heh), as he demands to know.  
“Edge, I said no. I’m not comfortable with this conversation!” You yell speed walking past Stretch.

Stretch’s eyes widen as he sees you break out into a run towards the house after scooting past. He whirls around, glaring at Edge. “What did you do” “I DEMANDED TO KNOW ABOUT THE PROBLEM WITH THEIR GENDER THING” Stretch turns back around and continues walking. “That was really rude of you” “I JUST WANTED TO KNOW-” Stretch teleports to the house, not having the patience to talk to Edge any longer. “RUDE IMBECILES” Edge shouted.

You felt really guilty as you arrived at the house, here he was, letting you in his space, even if it was shared with a group of others, and you repay him by yelling at him. You make way to your room, thanking Sans and Stretch as you enter for bringing your items here, and for helping you get your stuff back. They leave, and you start putting the rest of your stuff away. Eventually you hear Edge stomping up the steps.  
You flinch when he slams the door open. “HERE IS YOUR LUNCH.. HUMAN”  
“T-thanks Edge. Um.. I wanted to say sorry-” Edge looks surprised.  
“WHY ARE YOU APOLOGIZING?”  
“I yelled at you.. You’ve let me come into this house and I r-repay you by yelling at you”  
“JUST AS I EXPECTED. YOU WOULDN’T WANT TO GET ON MY BAD SIDE WOULD YOU” He stomps off, and you have to sit down from shaking so much. He’s really starting to get on your nerves, especially with how loud and obnoxious his voice is, but he seems like he might be a good person if you got to know him - but you highly doubt it. He’s very stuck up and rude, but you push that judgemental thought to the back of your mind. ‘You of all people, shouldn’t judge’ a small voice at the back of your minds mutters.

You spend around 2 hours finishing up your room, and by the time you’re done, it feels like home. Your succulent plant is on the table near the windows, you had just watered it. Fairy lights are strung across the ceiling back and forth in a zig-zag pattern. Your corkboard is above your desk, a slightly torn and worn out poster is next to it, accompanied by a couple of old photos (One from a couple of years ago of You and Papyrus, the other is a photo of you and a friend). Light pink, see-through curtains hang from the ceilings on the sides of the windows, casting a pink-ish glow in certain areas - it’s tied up to the wall, so your room isn’t bathed in pink light. There’s a pile of plushies in the corner across from your bed, blankets folded neatly at the foot of your bed while the head of the bed is suffocating from all of the pillows. Some pillows are at the small table in the corner, so it doesn’t feel uncomfortable to sit there. The book you were reading last night is on the table, and you have to ignore the itchy need of picking it up and continuing to read it. You want to get to know everyone more, you don’t have time to read.  
You head downstairs after a moment of looking around your room again, it doesn’t feel real. You hum, heading to the lounge and sitting on the couch. You notice that red, edgy sans napping across from you. ‘Do they work? Is that why is now so quiet and empty?’ you rub your forehead, deciding to go to the backyard where you can listen to the sounds of birds and trees, rather than silence. To your surprise, you see Edge watering the flowers. You go to the swing, and sit quietly. The sounds of the birds chirping make you feel relaxed, and hearing Edge hum as he waters the flowers make you feel content. You start thinking of an upcoming assignment that you’ve been waiting to start, gently rocking yourself back and forth on the swing. The assignment involves going to a lab nearby and studying certain Cultures and how they work, grow and live. You can’t see yourself working in a lab; labs are to cold and stark. You’ve been thinking about being a history teacher.

You remind yourself to check your calendar on your phone, you’ve been avoiding looking at it but you need to see when your next shift is at the Florist shop downtown. You might get Papyrus to delete the messages, so you don’t have to look at them and can block that asshole’s number. In a way, you’re glad you finally got away. He was nice to you at the beginning, but eventually you saw the real him. The real him who hated Queer-people, who hated people of different races and monsters, a heartless jerkwad that only cared about himself. You wouldn’t have managed to get out until yesterday, he had manipulated you into feeling guilty, making you feel horrible for thinking about leaving him. He would guilt-trip you, make you believe that no one else would love you, making you believe that you were unlovable - simply because you had told him, a bit before you started dating, that you were Aspec. He used that on you further down the road, calling you broken, saying something was wrong with you, how only he would date you because you’re broken - because "no one wants to date a broken person, y/n".

You had connected with Papyrus over being Aspec. You both were certain of your sexualities, but both couldn’t figure out your romantic orientations. It made you feel like you weren’t alone. He would console you when you felt broken, and you consoled him when he would finally break down after feeling like part of him was missing. You both related to those feelings, the hole in both of your emotions making you both feel like you were missing something. It took time, but you both managed to accept the fact that you couldn’t change the fact that you were both Aspec. Papyrus had become your closest friend, someone you valued, maybe even thought of romantically, but you weren’t sure about that. You struggled to differentiate platonic and romantic attraction - which tended to drive you insane. At this point you’ve been thinking about how you might be Grey-Aro. The label almost feels comfortable, but not yet, so you’re waiting until it does feel comfortable or until you find a label that feels like home.  
You and papyrus weren’t exactly shy about your feelings either, you suspect that Paps is Aromantic, but you’re not one to put labels on someone until they’ve told you or have decided they don’t want a label. It’s not uncommon to find you both hugging or holding hands; a way of expressing the intense platonic feelings you both have for each other, though a lot of people think you’re both dating, which makes you really uncomfortable.  
The best part about you and Papyrus being Aspec is that he understood your boundaries. He had been around you for so long that he’s picked up what body language is for each; repulsion is when you’d be curling into yourself, or trying to sink into your hoodie more. You’d be less talkative, and try to avoid being close to people. Indifferent is when you wouldn’t be so tense or trying to curl up, and only let Papyrus touch you. Positive is rare, but obvious. You’ll be more open, talk more and feel a lot more comfortable around people. You won’t be so worried about personal space, and won’t move away if someone gets to close or moves to touch you. He always asks when he notices that you’re repulsed. Otherwise he’ll either let you initiate in physical touch, or show some sign that he’s about to touch you (e.g: Opening his arms out as a way of asking for a hug). He made you feel safe and respected.

You’ve had a long talk about Queer-Platonic-Relationships with Paps. You wanted to be in one, but worried that it’d bite you in the ass when you were feeling repulsed, because even the thought of being touched would gross you out. Papyrus said he was eager to be in one. He wants to still be able to date, but without romantic expectations and pressure. He liked the idea of being closer to a best friend - Someone would say the relationship would be in the middle between Friends and Romance, which in a way isn’t completely true depending on the person; it also determined what the partner thought of as platonic, romantic and sexual, which can prove to be a big problem in some qprs. Papyrus had to admit, he wouldn’t mind being in a QPR with you. You both had similar ideas to what was platonic; Hand holding, kissing, cuddles, hugs, nicknames, etc which made it easier for the both of you if it ever came to affection. Not like you both don’t already show platonic affection towards each other, honestly nothing would change if you ever got into a QPR with Papyrus, which always makes you feel better when you think about it. You want him to ask first, you always manage to question yourself so much to the point where you’d retreat from asking.

You’re so lost in thought that you don’t notice the skeleton waving his hand in your face, eventually getting your attention by saying “Uh.. kid are you there?”. You yelp, breaking out of your thoughts as you look at Sans. “O-oh sorry..” “Don’t worry ‘bout it. Figured you’d want to come inside, it’s getting really cold out here” you sigh, nodding, wobbling as you stand up. You follow him inside, melting in the warmth as he closes the door behind you. There’s Black sitting on the couch, talking to Blue about battle strategies and puzzles. You didn’t expect them to get along, Black looks like an absolute ‘bitch-baby’, or more like an egotistical demanding asshole, while Blue looks more like a soft, kind and energetic marshmallow, but you can’t complain. You’ve never been the best at judging characters - if your past has anything to say about it. Papyrus is probably the only person you have judged a character well on; but then again, he’s literally a ball of sunshine and really friendly even without assessing him and trying to decide if it’s worth talking to him.

You sit next to Blue, listening to their conversation. “OBVIOUSLY YOU NEED TO TRAP THEM, OTHERWISE THEY’LL GET AWAY!” “BLACK NO-” “SHUT IT” Blue rolls his eyes. “AT LEAST I CAN ACTUALLY MAKE A PUZZLE THAT WORKS”. You stifle a laugh at their bickering. “You could always make a puzzle together. Something that, if is answered wrong, traps the person - but there’s also a way of getting out of the trap which is also a puzzle” you butt in. Blue turns to look at you, looking surprised. “THAT’S A PERFECT IDEA Y/N!” Black is looking away, looking intensely at the wall. Is this guy okay? He’s really playing into this whole “Snobby and Edgy” thing. “I HAD ALREADY THOUGHT OF THAT” Black’s voice makes you jump, you didn’t expect him to say anything. “We could all work on it together?” silence fills the room, and you start sweating. “I-i mean-” “MAYBE” black mutters. You rub the back of your neck, surprised. During the entire conversation you could hear Sans laughing in the background, until the sound of a mug dropping follows Black’s mutter.  
“Great.. Another mug..”  
“Are you okay Sans?” You let Blue know you’re going to help, and that he and Black can continue their conversation.  
“I did not expect Black to say that-” You give him a confused look as you help him pick up parts of the mug.  
“He usually doesn’t let people help him, really egotistical and demanding, all that crap”  
“Hmm. any tips on how to get him to be less crappy?” you giggle as you say the sentence, putting the pieces of mug on newspaper.  
“Heh, nope” You shrug, folding up the newspaper as Sans holds the plastic bag for you to put the newspaper in. You sigh as you put the newspaper in the bag. “Thanks for helpin’ kid” you nod as a way of saying ‘You’re welcome’ before sitting back on the couch.

The rest of the day is for once, peaceful. You were surprised that you weren’t on the brink of a mental breakdown after missing two nights of not taking your meds, but hey, you’re not complaining. You spend the time getting to know Blue more, and find you both get along really well - the first meeting was a table tennis game, so honestly you shouldn’t be surprised that you both got along, it’s probably not normal that you almost immediately feel comfortable around someone, right? Oh well.  
You perk your head up when you hear Papyrus announce he’s home, your head pops out from the top of the couch, you face lighting up when you see him. “Hey Pap!” he comes over and ruffles your hair. “HEY Y/N! HOW WAS YOUR DAY?” “It was.. Something heh” you reply, moving over for Papyrus to sit next to you. “What about yours?” he chucks down a folder full of notes and papers onto the coffee table. “ASSIGNMENT REQUIREMENTS, ALL THAT STUFF. I WAS A LITTLE IMPATIENT HONESTLY, I REALLY WANTED TO GET INTO IT RIGHT AWAY, NOT SPEND 20 MINUTES TALKING ABOUT EXPECTATIONS!!” You hum, resting against him. “What else?” “I MANAGED TO GET A QUARTER OF IT DONE! EVEN IF SOME OF THE STUDENTS WERE BEING LOUD” “you’re always so fast at getting your work done, how do you do it?” He laughs “BY BEING GREAT, OBVIOUSLY!” this causes you to giggle, looking up at him. “You are pretty great”.  
You feel him take a deep breath. “Uhm.. Brandon Was Looking For You”. You flinch, swearing quietly. “What.. did he want?”  
“He Said How You Weren’t Replying To Your Texts, So I Said Maybe You’d Talk To Him If He Hadn’t Ruined Your Trust And Outed You.. He Started Yelling At Me Nyeh..heh..”  
“I’m sorry-” “THERE’S NOTHING TO APOLOGIZE FOR Y/N, NONE OF THIS IS YOUR FAULT” you know you couldn’t argue about that when it came to Papyrus, so instead..  
“Hey Papyrus..?”  
“Yes Y/N?”  
“Is it okay if we cuddle?”  
“OF COURSE!” his soul hurts at your exhausted expression, and lifts you onto his lap to cuddle. You latch onto him, and he eventually asks you about the book you’ve been reading; leading you to ramble about it for an hour. At one point, Stretch joined you both. He’d occasionally ask a question about the book. By the time you had finished talking, Russ was sitting on the couch opposite of you.

You felt content, relaxed, cuddling Paps, especially after talking about your book. Of course, life doesn’t let you feel relaxed or content for long, because Russ asks a question to Papyrus. The tv is on, but it’s really quiet - for the sake of being background noise. You wished, at that moment, that it was louder, or that your hearing aid had gone flat.  
“You two seem pretty close, huh? Didn’t know you had a partner, Papyrus” You stare at the wall, feeling even more tired than before, not to mention a little frustrated and upset. You could feel Papyrus rubbing a hand on your shoulder, as he answered. “We Aren’t Dating” “Riiiightt, because being cuddled up on a couch is totallyyy not romantic”.  
Stretch looked uncomfortable from Russ suddenly bothering you. You look up at Papyrus, gaining his attention. You quickly sign to him - you both had taken a nsl class, and in times where you both needed silent communication, it had became almost like a saviour.  
He pays close attention, spelling out “ignore him”. Papyrus huffs in response, but nods his head.  
Russ stares at you both from across the room, confused. He didn’t know Sign Language, but he knew it was something that bothered Papyrus. Hmpf, whatever, they can continue playing pretend.

You and Papyrus end up getting distracted in a conversation, both gushing about a new song from a band you both like, which prompted you both to go up to your room and listen to the band. You both sat at the small table in the corner of your room, the sound of The 1975 playing as you both worked at your assignments, both occasionally helping each other.  
“I THINK THAT’D SOUND BETTER AS ‘THE REASON WHY WE NEED TO STUDY CULTURES AND UNDERSTAND THEM IS THAT IF WE FIND A NEW CULTURE, WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO CONNECT IT TO A SIMILAR LOOKING CULTURE AND NARROW IT DOWN TO WHAT IT COULD BE’” You grin, thanking him. “Don’t forget to add those two facts into that statement, it ties into the topic of the paragraph-” you mention. He nods to your sentence, grabbing a new piece of refill to rewrite the paragraph. You both work in silence for a while.

He looks at you as you focus on your work, noticing how your tongue sticks out when you’re really determined or focused, or in other words ‘in the zone’, he feels his soul dance in his chest a little, sometimes how beautiful you are completely floors him. Which, has happened to you too many times. Half the time he was around when you’d be smashed by intense Aesthetic Attraction, and he’d laugh as you’d gush about how gorgeous the person looked. You’ve done the same for him too, but it was almost always you causing him to be swept off his feet. ‘I couldn’t be any luckier.. A close friend who understands, someone who makes me happy, someone who i can count on that won’t judge me’ he thinks, remembering some of your adventures.  
Once, you had both gone to the beach for a walk - it was warm, sunny and there wasn’t a single cloud in sight. Though, you ended up eating to much ice cream and, well, he had to hold your hair back. You’ve learnt your lesson, but sometimes he still has to stop you from eating to much.  
Another time, you were both studying in the library. He was really distracted by his work, but when he looked over at you, with books stacked on your head, he couldn’t help but laugh, which in turn caused you to laugh. Thankfully no books were damaged.  
He really is grateful that he’s close to you. You’ve made him feel more.. Himself. Less like a broken skeleton because he couldn’t experience what others could when it came to feelings. You- you made him happy, and he was glad he could express it in the way only you could understand. At least, in the area. He’s pretty sure you’re both the only people who’s Aspec in a range of 100 kms. That, and the fact that people viewed almost everything as Romantic or Sexual to the point where it was overbearing.

After a-while, it had become time where dinner needed to be cooked. You had asked if you could cook tonight, and said he could help if he wanted. Sort of a way of saying thanks. You had decided on Mac n Cheese (with Broccoli and Cauli in it, of course. It’s your grandma’s recipe, you both cooked a lot when you would stay at hers. Before she passed, she had given you her written recipe book).

-

Sans found you and Paps cooking, you were mostly dancing and belting out lyrics as music played from your phone, while Papyrus would occasionally join you in singing. He can’t help but feel happy, the joy from both of you is infectious. He left when a food fight almost broke out though, not wanting to get involved in that. He didn’t know you well, but from what Papyrus had been telling him for the past couple of years, he knows you’ve been through a lot - and that you helped Papyrus, and Papyrus helped you. In some weird way, he felt happy that you were fitting in, whether it was because Papyrus was more happier than he had been in months or it was because he has taken pity on you, he’ll never know. He just knows he’s somewhat glad.

You seemed nice, though somewhat overwhelming, but that was yesterday’s impression. You seem less anxious, more social. In fact, he heard Black ranting to his brother about what you had said to him, which honestly? Pretty cool to know you were trying to talk to everyone else. Made him feel less worried, he has always worried that someone was taking advantage of his brother.

-

When you put the Mac n Cheese in the oven, you stood back up and looked around. Some cheese had gotten across the kitchen, some cheese sauce on Papyrus’s skull and bits of Broccoli and Cauli stuck in your hair. You couldn’t help the loud, genuine laugh that bubbled out of you when you noticed there was cheese hanging out of his nasal cavity. When he questioned why you were laughing, all you could do was grab the cheese and remove it. Papyrus still didn’t understand what was so funny, but he was so happy to hear the loud, boisterous laugh you rarely used. You managed to calm yourself down from laughing so much, looking up at Papyrus with a blinding grin, your eyes were wide and for once, sparkling and alive, instead of dull and tired. He could feel his magic dusting his cheeks, as he leaned down to press a kiss to your forehead. In return, you kissed his cheek. You then got a paper towel and started cleaning off all the cheese sauce on Papyrus, giggling occasionally. All of this.. Felt so right. Not tense and scary, like how being around Brandon was.

You and Papyrus clean up the kitchen while dinner cooks. By the time you’ve both finished, the timer is going off and you’re pulling out a steaming hot casserole dish of Mac n Cheese. Cheese was soft and melted on the top, and the smell of the dish transported you back to when you’d help Grandma cook, stealing bits of broccoli and cauli when she wasn’t looking. You take the dish to the table, Papyrus calls out that dinners ready as he grabs cutlery and plates. You sit down, thanking Papyrus for helping you cook. Blue was the first to arrive, you could hear him from a mile away as he ran up the stairs. Red was taking his time, walking slowly behind Blue. Stretch eventually came back inside after a smoke, which you chided him for (and yes, you felt guilty but it wasn’t healthy! Especially for you, and you really disliked smoke). Sans, Edge and Russ had turned up before Stretch, Black being the last to arrive. Everyone was talking to each other, taking turns to dish up their plates. You waited to be the last to grab a helping, simply because you wanted to see how everyone else felt about it. Blue complimented you, sans nodding and, in a very, very flat voice, said “How could you make me eat tiny trees” which almost resulted with you choking on your food. “What can I say? Trees are healthy for you” You grin, winking at him. Quiet chatter surrounded the table, a little bit of shouting now and then, but it somehow felt like a family. You felt wanted for once.

Edge had given himself the duty of doing dishes, while everyone else went to do their own thing. You helped Edge a little, which prompted him to snap at you; “YOU ALREADY COOKED, GO AND SIT DOWN”. It surprised you, but you nodded. First though, you really wanted to get your meds out the way before you forget, and change into your pajamas. A sweater and baggy pj shorts would be so comfortable right now.. You sigh thinking about it, walking to your room.  
You couldn’t help but watch the sunset from your window, which had stalled you a little, but nature really took you by surprise with how beautiful it was sometimes. You eventually tore your eyes from the stunning view, getting changed and taking your meds. You leave the cup in your room, rushing down to the lounge so you can watch tv with Red, Russ, Papyrus and Sans. Blue had gone outside to train by himself, Stretch was.. somewhere, you weren’t sure where. Edge was still drying dishes, and Black had joined Blue to train outside.  
You eagerly set next to Papyrus, tapping on his wrist twice (You both had made up a system, where if it was dark, or either of you didn’t want to talk or sign, a way to ask for consent to touch. Which honestly is pretty clever if you do say so yourself). He tapped back three times, and you didn’t hesitate to hug him, cuddled up against his side as he wrapped an arm around you.  
You fell asleep during the show you were watching, and the last thing you remember is Papyrus’s face as he tucked you into bed, kissing your forehead before leaving.

You didn’t have any nightmares that night.


	3. With the Plants and Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You get called in for a shift at the florist shop you work in!  
> (And Papyrus brings you lunch like the sweetheart he is)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: self-harm scars, mention of depression etc  
> -  
> hmm I've been struggling to get this chapter done, mostly because of writers-block. This chapter is a lot smaller (usually the minimum amount of words is 5000, but i've run out of patience with this chapter xD), I just want to move onto chapter 4. I'm excited to write chapter 4 honestly.  
> Sorry for the long wait!

You woke up to the sound of your phone blaring, you drop out of bed, grab your hearing aid and put it on as you move to your desk to grab it. It’s Jen, your boss, so you pick up. “Hey Y/N! I’ve been trying to get ahold of you since yesterday” You sit down, and notice the smell of coffee. “Mmhm sorry, I had some living arrangement problems. What’s up?” You mumble into the phone as you drag yourself downstairs. Your hair is a long, curly mess, but that’s normal, your hair is always an untamable beast. Which is why you shaved half of it off. Half the amount of shit to deal with, plus it looked badass (and was a haircut you’ve wanted since you were a little kid). “I need you to come in for a shift today” “Right, what time boss?” You hear Jen laugh at being called boss “In an hour?” you hum in agreement, stepping into the kitchen and pouring yourself a big cup of coffee. “I’ll be there” Jen quickly thanks you before hanging up, and you look down at your phone. Seeing no messages from the jerkwad filled you with relief - in fact, he wasn’t in your contacts and there wasn’t any messages from him there. You smile gently. Papyrus probably did that.  
You almost drop your phone when you hear a voice behind you. “‘Ey kid, you’re up early” You chuckle, turning to see that it’s only stretch. “Got work” you grumble before taking another sip of coffee.  
“Whadya do for a job?”  
“hm floristry. I work downtown” Stretch raises his eyebrow. “Didn’t peg you as a flower person”.  
You huff, chuckling. “It’s something I enjoy and can handle doing as a job, since I don’t have to socialize much” you smile a little. “What about you?”  
“Odd jobs here and there. Sometimes I get called in to be a reliever teach, which is a’ight i’d say. Somethin’ I enjoy”.  
“Holy shit what do you teach?” Your eyes are wide, not expecting that.  
“Astronomy and Physics” he can’t help but laugh at your expression. “What? It shouldn’t be that surprising”.  
“I don’t know, just didn’t think you’d enjoy teaching”.  
“I enjoy the subjects, and sometimes it’s worth seeing a students face light up when the finally understand something, or when you get to tell them they’ve done really well on an assignment”.  
You nod, finishing up your cup of coffee. “Well, I need to get ready. Got a 30 minute ride ahead of me”. You walk to your room, ruffling your hair in nervousness.  
As you pick out an outfit (A pair of black leggings, grey t-shirt and a baggy black hoodie), you can feel yourself slipping. Not the kind of slipping that’s sliding off a cliff, or in books how it describes a character holding onto someone’s hand but their grasp slipping from the others, but rather the familiar feeling of slipping back into your dull, long, hole that lives in your mind. The hole, that you describe, as Depression. You’re not surprised, you were happy for a good chunk of yesterday, and you were waiting for depression to drag you back down.  
You quietly get changed, ignoring the freckles interrupted by white lines running everywhere, including the indented scars littering your wrists, stomach and thighs. Old history, but you’re still ashamed and embarrassed by them. Papyrus knows they’re there, but hasn’t seen them. He knows simply because the school counselor wanted you to have a plan if anything went wrong; a code word, how to handle the situation, all that stuff. You’ve only used the code word once which you’re pretty sure gave Papyrus a heart-attack at first, but after a moment he had calmed down and did everything he knew he had to do, and you couldn’t have been more thankful.

Once you’re dressed, you put on a pair of comfortable, leather boots (you’d wear gumboots, but you’d never hear the end of it from Jen about how Kiwi it was of you). You were rather surprised when Blue, on your first day there, who had heard you talking about getting a new motorbike after it got stolen, suggested you borrow it when needed (He had said, and you quote “I have a spare, it’s not as flash but..”). You showered him in hugs after, thankful you were feeling indifferent at the time so it didn’t bother you as much to hug him.  
You shrug a leather jacket over your hoodie, grabbing the key to the old motorbike that sat in the garage. He had shown you where it was and where the helmet was. You grab your phone and headphones, running down the steps, over the bridge and up the trail, opening the garage and pulling the motorbike out with the helmet. You make sure to close the garage door before sitting on the bike, deciding that it was best to go slow at first, especially on this road (and because you haven’t ridden a bike in almost a month- but that doesn’t matter). You make sure your phone is in your pocket (which can zip up. Bless whoever made this jacket), and headphones are secured around your neck.

You make it to the florist shop a few minutes early and park nearby. You make sure it’s sitting up right so it doesn’t fall over, and head inside. “Hi Jen!” you call out. “Y/N!!” she runs out from the back room, grinning widely. “I missed you!!” “I missed you too” you chuckle. You head to the back room, where pots of flowers sit everywhere. You put your helmet on the desk in the corner, looking as if it had never left.

Your day goes slowly, and occasionally you text Papyrus to cure your boredom. Papyrus mentions how he had made too many sandwiches, and as you a joke you reply with “You should share! :O” and the sweet cinnamon bun, of course, takes it seriously. He’s outside the shop within 30 minutes, walking in with a box of sandwiches. You grin, waving at Papyrus. “I didn’t think you’d take it seriously!” you giggle. “OF COURSE I DID SILLY! YOU NEED TO EAT” you lead him to the back room, sitting at the desk with Papyrus as Jen goes back out into the front to keep an eye on the shop. “What Do You Do Here?”  
“Make bouquets, sell flowers and plants, and mostly just relax. The shop isn’t that busy most of the time, so I don’t work that much” Papyrus nods enthusiastically as you talk, taking the lid off the box. You grab a slice, not taking your time to start eating it.  
“WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE PLANT?”  
“Hm.. Cacti, Oceanblue morning-glory and montbretia”  
“WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE?”  
You get up after finishing your slice and walk to a shelf stocked with succulents, a note above them with the days they need to be watered. You grab a rather tiny cactus, and a more medium sized cactus and bring them back to the desk.  
“These are cacti” you chuckle as Papyrus looks at them both.  
“THEY'RE SO COOL! THEY EVEN HAVE ARMOUR”  
You laugh, nodding. “Just be careful, the spikes are quite sharp” you mention, gently patting the smaller cactus with a finger. “The small one here, his spikes aren't as sharp. They still hurt, but you can run your finger of them without hurting yourself if you know how to do it.” Papyrus nods as he listens intensely.  
“Oceanblue and montbretia are somewhat difficult to get. They're both tropical plants, so depending on where you are in new Zealand they might live. We don't order them often, we do have an Oceanblue though. The poor guy is looking a little sad at the moment. Best chance of them surviving is in Gisborne. Certain areas have tropical waters and the temperature can sometimes be perfect for them” you smile as you go to the window sill at the back of the room and grab the big pot, a plant with enchanting flowers on it. You gently put the pot next to the cacti, and move the cacti back to their area.  
“Woah.. SO BEAUTIFUL!”  
“I know right? I might talk to Jen about taking this guy home with me” you can't help but grin softly as you look at the plant.  
“We don't have any montbretia with us because technically in new Zealand it's considered a weed. Which is a shame, it's such a gorgeous flower” you pull up a photo of one on your phone and show Papyrus. “WHY IS IT A WEED?” You shrugged, you never really learnt about that or bothered to search it up.  
You grab another slice and continue to eat lunch. “Anything here that stand out to you?” You ask Papyrus.  
Papyrus looks around, before pointing at a pot holding a small Aloe Vera plant in a warm, sunny area. “THAT ONE!”  
“That’s an Aloe plant” you go over and gently pick it up, bringing it to Papyrus. “Aloe Vera is very good for humans in many ways, can heal sunburns, reduce constipation, and a few other things. It also represents Healing, Protection and Affection, so it suits you really well.” You break the end off a leaf, showing him what it looks like inside, and describing what parts of the Aloe Vera help with humans’ health. “I’m going to put the plants back to their spots, my lunch break will be over soon.” You put both pots back in their spots, and then sit back down. You hum, eating a few more slices before Jen walks in asking for you to finish up. You nod, apologizing to Papyrus.

You say goodbye to Papyrus as he leaves, and focus on a few bouquet orders. Eventually the end of the day arrives and you say goodbye to Jen. The ride home is peaceful, as you near the bay, you can’t help the smile that grows on your face as you look at the stunning view. The sun is reflecting off the waves, and the air is somewhat humid. You carefully and slowly make your way up the scary path, parking blue’s motorbike in the garage and walking to the house. The smell of Roast chicken filles your nose as you enter the house, humming quietly as you walk into the lounge. “Uh.. hi” you say, attempting to announce that you’re home. You can see Edge watering flowers outside through the door frame leading to the backyard, and you can hear the quiet sound of a few people talking, and someone laughing. You head outside, passing Papyrus and Blue as they cook. Red, Sans, Stretch and Rus are sitting on a few lawn chairs near the door and Black is weeding the vegetable crops.  
“Uh hi guys” You wave at the group sitting on the lawn chairs.  
“‘Ey, just in time”  
“Dinner is almost ready” Sans finishes off Red’s sentence.  
“Come ‘n sit down kitten”  
You grumble at the nickname, grabbing a folded lawn chair sitting against the side of the house, unfolding it and sitting next to Sans.  
“What did you guys get up to today?” you ask, trying to start a conversation.  
“I helped Red with a car” you raise an eyebrow at Stretch.  
“Hm? What happened to the car?” Red laughs.  
“I’m a mechanic, hun” oh. That must be why he smells like petrol.  
“Why was Stretch helping you?”  
“Staff was short, needed someone to help me move stuff around for me” You nod.  
“What about you, Sans?” Sans chuckles, looking at you.  
“Worked on a project, nothin’ important. You look like you’ve been stranded in a forest for a few days, whaddya’ do today?” You huff at his (can it be considered an insult?).. Choice of words.  
“Work. Little bit of a dirt spillage at one point, but other than that it was a good day. Nice to see my boss too”  
“What do you do for work?”  
You raise an eyebrow, has he not connected the dots already? “Uh i’m a florist”  
“Cute” you blush lightly.  
“Thanks”  
Rus glances at you a couple times before you speak up. “How was your day, Rus?” You hope you got his name right. He looks almost taken aback that you talked to him.  
“Eh.. boring. Kids almost ruined a bookshelf though. Stupid idiots” shit, was he a librarian? No way-  
“Yeah sweetcheeks, I’m a librarian”  
“S-sorry I didn’t realize I said that out loud”  
Rus chuckles at your stutter. “Don’ worry about it.”

The second Papyrus announces that dinner’s ready, you jump out of your seat and head inside. Your mouth waters at the sight of Mash Potato, A medium whole roasted chicken, some boiled vegetables and Gravy - Smelled just as good as it looked.  
You take a seat, fidgeting as you wait for everyone to sit down. It’s table manners, you weren’t going to help yourself until everyone else was sitting. Though, you were tempted to throw that table manner out the window. Dinner is full of laughing and conversation, you were mostly quiet as you stuffed your face with Mash and Gravy.

Afterwards, you help wash the dishes and then head to the bathroom for a shower. You knew you had some dirt on your face, and some on your arms, probably reeked of compost too. You don’t hang out with everyone after your shower, instead head upstairs to rest in your room. You needed some recharging time. While reading at the table in the corner, you fell asleep. You don’t wake when someone lifts you into bed and tucks you in.


	4. Christmas Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> uh happy 1st of december? this is very late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaA im so sorry this took so long!!!!! personal stuff is happening in my life rn that's severely affecting my health and stuff sjdbfsjdf
> 
> I hate how this chapter turned out? but im too tired to care at this point.  
> There's been a lot of Earthquakes a good distance away from New Zealand, which are actually travelling down the ring of fire towards nz. I live directly on the ring of fire haha. I'm kind of expecting an earthquake soon, I just hope it isn't anything as strong as the ones that have been happening just up the ring of fire (which, have been recorded as 7.1, 7.3 and 7.5 magnitude). Fun.  
> We're actually, according to geologists, well over due for a massive earthquake. which, has been known for ages.
> 
> Enjoy this shit show.
> 
>  
> 
> TWS: Panic attacks(?) mostly intense anxiety ig. Earthquakes (because it's the new zealand experience and honestly happen way too often)

You had spent the past few days working, today was finally, a break day. You had woken up to the sounds of Christmas music playing and a few voices shouting, you made sure you had a sweater on and mid length shorts, before heading down stairs into the mess of tinsel, Christmas decorations and skeletons.

“USE THE RED TINSEL FIRST!”  
“BUT GREEN IS BETTER”  
“What about the white tinsel?”  
You chuckle as you walk into the lounge, a couple of skeletons (Sans and Stretch) are napping(?) on the couch, Black and Blue are standing at the tree, debating what tinsel to use first, Russ and Papyrus were putting up Christmas decor around the walls of the lounge.  
It finally clicks in your mind that it's the first of December. First day of summer, and first day of the Christmas month (you start celebrating Christmas right after Halloween so it doesn't matter to you when Christmas decor is put up). You chuckle as you watch them play around, heading to the kitchen to make some coffee. You hum along with the christmas music, bathing in the morning sun. It’s already quite warm, despite the past couple days being rather cloudy and miserable. You might have to bring out a one-piece if it gets any warmer.. you have a long sleeved one-piece somewhere.. you're lost in thought as you make your coffee, not hearing the skeleton walking up to you. “Hey, kid. Mind pouring me a cup?” You jump at his voice, chuckling when you realize it's just sans. “Sure” you pour him a cup, and grab your mug of coffee before turning to him. “Having fun decorating?” You ask as you take a sip of your coffee. “Yeah, it's uh, a lot better than last year's Christmas decorating.” you chuckle.  
You head back to the lounge and take a seat next to Stretch, who hums as he opens an eye-socket to look at you.  
“Mornin'”  
“Morning Stretch”

The morning is rather peaceful, even if at one point Papyrus had you dance with him to the Christmas Music. It was fun, and for once you felt lighter.

As lunch approaches, you go upstairs to change. It's hit 25°c and you feel like you're melting. You grab a t-shirt and a light fabric long-sleeved cardigan, putting them on as you change from your pj pants to knee length unisex shorts. You hum quietly as you throw your clothes in the right places, moving to walk down to the lounge until you suddenly feel yourself wobbling quite ferociously. You curse as you manage to make it to the doorway. “GET UNDER A DOOR FRAME OR TABLE” You try to shout over the loud sound of the earth shaking, the skeles screams and screeches, and the inevitable sound of a few things falling off surfaces. It stops after what you assumed was 25 seconds, taking a deep breath before rushing downstairs. “Is everyone okay? Let's go outside, it's somewhat safer.”  
You herd them outside, answering your phone as it rings. “Oh shit Jen, are you okay?” You hush the skeletons as you out the phone on speaker so you can hear her better. “Uh, crap that was a big one huh?” Jen nervously chuckles.  
“Jen are you home alone?”  
“Yeah. I am”  
“Do you wanna stay over for the night? Safety in numbers. You don't know if we'll have any major earthquakes after this that aren't aftershocks and I don't want you to be alone. I know you can't handle earthquakes” there's a loud sigh on the other end.  
“Alright. Text me the address.. I just need to clean up some stuff that's broken” you hum, saying goodbye before hanging up.  
“HUMAN, WHAT WAS THAT?”  
“Earthquake. Give me a second I'm trying to check something”  
You hear Sans explaining how an earthquake happens as you load geonet. You wince when you see the location and magnitude. “Ouch, a 5’7 magnitude..”  
Your sentence is followed by less intense shaking as you watch the earth roll in waves. You hear a couple of loud crashes from inside.  
“A-alright guys. When this aftershock finishes and we go back inside, you need to know what to do during an earthquake. Are you all paying attention?”  
The world goes silent around you as the aftershock finishes. Some sounds of acknowledgement, a couple of “yep” and “YES”.  
“Right. Get under a table or door frame, if you're not near either move to an area furthest away from any windows and drop, cover and hold. Drop to the ground into fetal position, cover the back of your neck with one hand and use your other hand to hold onto a leg of any furniture, or something that is heavy enough to not move to much” you show an example of drop, cover and hold before telling who's cleaning items that have broken, cracked or fallen off shelves, who's looking for supplies and who's coming with you to the shop to buy extra supplies.  
You decide to bring Papyrus and Blue with you, they both seem pretty shaken up and you don't want to leave them alone if another earthquake happens. You get into Papyrus's car on the driver's side while both of them sit in the back. You offered to drive since this isn't the first time you've been on the road during an earthquake and you're more experienced with handling this sort of stuff.

On the way to the shops, you see a couple trees and poles that had fallen during the earthquake, you also see neighbours hugging each other and visiting houses around the neighborhood to make sure no one is injured or needs help. You smile at that. Earthquakes always bring people together. You check on Paps and Blue, asking if they’re okay as you near the shops. Blue nods, for once looking tired. Must be the adrenaline. “I’M FINE Y/N!” Papyrus replies. You hum, carefully parking into the busy parking lot. “You both need to stay close to me okay? It’s going to be very crowded and we need to be careful” Papyrus grabs your hand, Blue grabbing your other hand. “Guess that works too” you mumble.  
You all enter, and as you had said, it’s rather chaotic. A few staff are trying to clean up some spillage, cashiers are working their asses off to get through everyone. You get Papyrus to hold a basket before heading through the gate. “We need fruits.. No meats because that can be dangerous in a power outage, flashlights, batteries, hm probably not candles…” as you mumble away, Blue starts putting Apples, Oranges, Strawberries and Peaches into the basket. Papyrus gently tugs on your arm, and you look up. Oh. you were lost in thought. You mumble an apology and start guiding them to the water bottles, grabbing a few. You and Blue also get canned food that won’t go off, crackers, biscuits, other snacks, a skele-ton of toilet paper, tissues, a first aid kit, a radio, about 6 torches- well, you were going to but the store had limited it to 3 so everyone can at least get one each. You also chuck in batteries, breakfast biscuits and cereal. Should you grab milk? That might go off if there’s a long-period power outage.. You sigh and grab milk anyway. “Do you guys want anything?” they both shake their heads, and you smile gently.  
You guys quickly scan, pay and leave the store. You can feel the adrenaline wearing off now, and you feel absolutely exhausted. You all get in the car, and you start to make haste home. You’re not feeling well enough to handle another earthquake right now, but as normal life is never on your side as you hear the tattletale loud rumbling sound. You see the road moving up and down in waves as you drive home, keeping an eye out for any possible obstacles or dangers. “I wonder how big that one was. Probably a 5.2” you say out loud, hoping to hear a response. Papyrus and Blue are fast asleep, which surprises you. Those two? The energetic duo? Napping?? You can’t wait to tell Sans about this. You hum a tune of a song as you near the home. You’ve been speeding, but at this point you’re too tired to care. You just want to get home before another earthquake. When you arrive you’re met with Jen in her small, dinky car that has a couple of bags in it. You park, hop out and hug her. “Gotta wake up the skeles’ really quick” Jen nods as you open the right back car door, poking Papyrus’s skull. It doesn’t work, so you yell “HEY LOOK THERE’S SPAGHETTI” which does the job in waking up both of them from how loud your voice is.

You lead Jen inside, she’s carrying her bags and you, Papyrus and Blue are carrying all the supplies. You tell Jen to follow you as you drop the bags you were carrying on the table before showing her your room. “Woahhh your room is so tall!! And very beautiful” You laugh. “Thanks”.  
You tell her which side of the bed she gets, because your hearing aid supplies are on one side and you need to be near them. She sighs, nodding. “I should introduce you to everyone. Come on, we need to put away all of the stuff anyway”.   
Jen awkwardly stands next to you as you put certain items in a group, Red is seemingly checking her out, and Sans is staring at her like she killed someone. “WHERE DO WE PUT ALL OF THESE??” you laugh at Black’s sentence, shaking your head. “It’s just a water bottles, put it under the sink”. You put batteries in the torches, making sure each one works. “We should stay in groups of three. Since, there’s only three torches. One group will have four people though” the surrounding skeletons mumble, most of them nodding. “We should make a meet-up spot, like in the backyard or somewhere in the house so if it’s a really big earthquake we can all meet and do a headcount” Jen suggests. “THAT’S A BRILLIANT IDEA” Edge bellows. Sans, Jen and Edge start talking about the safest places that could work as meet-up areas. You help Papyrus put away all the food, and also help put the other supplies in the cupboard. You put the radio on the table, putting batteries into it and scaring a couple of skeletons when you test to see that it works. You mumble as you hear Meg’s voice from The Edge, turning off the radio. Right, everything seems to be working. We still have electricity. Righteo. “Who wants to cook dinner tonight?” Papyrus immediately says “ME!” and Black mumbles “I’M HAPPY TO COOK” thank fuck you don’t have to cook tonight. You nod, giving them both a thumbs up before plopping on to the couch.  
“Is it a’right if I watch tv?” you ask to anyone nearby, Sans floats the remote to you “‘Course kid”. You give him a thumbs up, saying thank you. You put it on channel 1, watching the news comes on. It’s earlier, but of course it is. It always is when there’s a national disaster. You watch intensely, listening to the reports. “Power outages in lower half of north island, Masterton, parts of wellington, and all through out the top half of the lower island” you wince, that’s a massive chunk of power being broken off. You watch as they play live footage of damage in areas. In a way, you were lucky it was so deep. It was right below lower hutt, but since it was so deep it didn’t affect the area as much as the surrounding places due to the seismic waves rising horizontally, causing the surrounding areas to get the rougher blunt of it.  
You hope it didn’t hit christchurch too hard, they’re still recovering from the earthquakes in 2011 and 2012. That was not fun to experience, even if it was weaker in wellington, it was still pretty strong.

After a few minutes Sans, Stretch and Edge join you on the couch, Jen goes into the kitchen to help cook dinner. The small group of you converse, as you put a blanket over a sleeping Blue.   
‘Where’s Russ?” “Right ‘ere, sweetheart” You look over your shoulder, waving at him. You’re too tired to continue holding a grudge from his.. thoughts the other night. “You wanna join us watching tv?” Russ rolls his eyes and sits next to you once you’ve sat down. He smells like smoke and dust, you turn away for a moment. You’re not the biggest fan of smoke, or the smell of it.  
A couple of you fall asleep, you did at some point but a small aftershock woke you up. Sans slept through it like a rock though. You chuckle, leaning against Russ sleepily. “News still going?” you hear him chuckle. “Yeah, you missed out on seeing the footage of the entire news building shaking though. Pretty entertaining” You pout. Oh well, you might catch it next time. Black announces loudly that dinners ready, and you move so Russ can get up before lying against Sans. Black comes over to you to stop you from falling asleep, also waking up Sans during it. “COME ON, HUMAN, YOU NEED TO EAT! IT’S BEEN A LONG DAY, AND AS FAR AS I’M CONCERNED, YOU HAVEN’T EATEN ALL DAY” the last part earns a glare from Jen to Black, and a worried look from Papyrus to you. You get up, blushing from embarrassment. You don’t like people bringing attention to this stuff. You shove him slightly as you stumble past, quietly serving yourself a bit of food. It’s a cottage pie, you figure they’re using up the rest of the meat before it possibly goes off from a power outage. You hope it doesn’t end up being something similar to the 2013 seddon quakes, that was hell. So many aftershocks and foreshocks.  
You grab another plate and serve up some for sans before taking cutlery and bringing both plates to the couch. You put both plates on the coffee table, so you can shake Sans awake. “Hey, Hey Sans. Dinner” He grumbles, waking up. “Hn what” “Dinner” he sighs. You hold out a his plate and he takes it, smiling.  
You all eat in silence, watching the news. There’s the occasional yawn or comment, but other than that it’s relatively quiet as you all clean up, gather in your groups and settle in for bed. Jen, Papyrus and Edge are with you in your room. Red, Blue and Stretch are in Blue’s room down the hall. Black, Russ and Sans are in San’s room across from Blue’s.

You're content, tucked next to Jen, with Papyrus on the other side of you and Edge sitting at the edge of the bed. You giggle as you watch Jack, a calming method. There's been a couple of aftershocks in the past hour or so and to keep yourself preoccupied and calm, you grabbed your laptop and put on one of jack's latest let's plays. Papyrus is having a quiet conversation with Edge (well, as quiet as Edge could possibly be), and Jen is scrolling through reddit. She'll occasionally share a meme based on the earthquakes from a subreddit, which manages to make you chuckle. It's not long before you feel drowsy, you had decided to watch betapixl instead. Usually you always fall asleep while watching or listening to his let's plays. You yawn, Papyrus had managed to convince Edge to get some sleep, and Jen joined Edge two mattresses pushed together after complaining that it was too warm. That meant you were able to spread out a bit more, not that it mattered since you were practically curled up against Papyrus. He had gotten into bed halfway through one of Robins videos, which he always seemed to enjoy a lot more. He enjoys jack, for his positivity and care, but he prefers the calm, gentle voice of Robin.

Being woken up by shaking was expected, but still wasn't fun. Thankfully it wasn't that big, and somehow Edge and Jen slept through it like rocks. You quietly talk to Papyrus, cuddling. You're exhausted, but the aftershocks are happening with 10-15 minutes between them, which isn't the first time this has happened, but the longer it goes on for, the more bizarre it gets. You know geologists are gonna be all over this for the next few weeks.  
You and Papyrus don't sleep for the rest of the morning, talking about things, cuddling, watching videos and practically doing anything to pass the time that won't wake up Jen and Edge. At around 5-6 Am, there's a massive jolt that throws you out of bed, which makes you squeal as you hit the ground. You can all hear a couple to few shouts of surprise and shock from down the hall. Edge groans loudly, having been thrown a little to the side. Jen sighs, grumbling about how she was having a good dream. Papyrus hadn't budged, instead moving to help you up. “We should check on everyone else” you say, rubbing the back of your head as Papyrus helps you up. Edge agrees loudly, storming out of the room.  
Mostly everyone in the other rooms had moved outside, Sans waited for you all to come out of your room before heading down. The morning sun is already shining down on New Zealand. Edge hesitantly walks over to Red, giving him a hug. Sans is gladly talking to Papyrus.  
You do a headcount as everyone talks to each other, checking no one is hurt. You hear Blue and Black loudly recall their experiences to each other. Neither of them slept a wink, despite being suffocated in a pile of skeletons. When the jolt happened, Everyone had been thrown in one direction, resulting in them either hitting the ground and being squashed by another skeleton, or being the skeleton landing on top of another skeleton. You laugh at mental image.

The morning is spent trying to make breakfast as another earthquake, which was a bit bigger, rocked the country, which also managed to cause a power outage. You help Stretch and Blue cook sausages on the barbie. Some of the group decided they wanted cereal instead, which you had all moved the milk and other cold drinks in a big cooler. While eating breakfast you and Jen talk about the situation. “Do you think this will last longer than last time?” You shake your head. “If last time you mean by Seddon, I doubt it. All the aftershocks and foreshocks are releasing any leftover built up tension so it should be over soon” “that’s what scientists said about Seddon too” “and? It'll probably last a few more days. We'll be fine”.

You were correct. The bigger aftershocks had stopped, and they were now only between 3.0 - 4.5, which is a really good drop from the 5 and 6.something’s you were having. Jen and you spent time cleaning up the florist shop, and then you helped her clean up any messes in her house.

Life goes back to normal, occasional damage reports released. You spend two weeks working at the floristry, having to continuously nurture some plants back to health and rebuild certain parts of the shops from shelves breaking off the wall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im gonna be honest, the part with the jolt is something that I remember a lot. For me it happened at like, 7-8 pm, and I was eating dinner. Was thrown against the table from it. A lot of the stuff in here is personal experience, there are some stuff that has been changed entirely simply for the personality of the other skeletons, and how it'd work for the group compared to my experience since there's only three people in this house. Reader is lucky they only had to be in a bed with one person. I had to be squashed in a double bed with 2 family members (which honestly feels a lot more safer than sleeping alone when there's earthquakes happening; that shit is terrifying waking up in the middle of the night, alone, having to run to the door-frame. whats worse is that I have a fear of the dark, which makes earthquakes in the middle of the night a nightmare. (Also if you're deaf, like me, and don't have your hearing aid clipped on, you can hear the loud rumbling from the earthquake through the ground which is a big "fuck that").
> 
> also guessing the magnitudes are pretty common at this point. Back during Christchurch's massive earthquakes (i have family down there) they'd drink tea while an earthquake happens and place bets on the magnitude. Which, is a big mood. tbh no one really cares when an earthquake happens anymore sudbskhdf.
> 
> A couple of years ago, students had to do exams in the middle of earthquakes. I wasn't a year 11, 12 or 13 so I wasn't doing exams, the same happened the year before that. Also two years ago? during exams?? We had earthquakes, a flood and a storm in like 3-4 days.


	5. Shopping, introductions and conflict

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You spend time with the skeles, meet someone new, and Red doesn't know how to keep his jaw shut :)
> 
> Red please for the love of stars stop picking fights.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted to get this out now, since it's still technically the 18th for me.  
> I had a little bit of fun with this, hope you guys don't mind!!
> 
> **TW:  
> Name calling (e.g: whore), panic, scars, uh that's all I can think of.

At least a week has passed, not that you knew. You had been at the Florist shop, and outside of that you spent your time in your room, either sleeping or doing nothing. Today, is your day off. Well, one of the days. Now that the shop is back in order, you probably won’t be needed around for a bit. You groan upon waking up, reaching for your phone. It’s 8 am, the sun is already filling the entire room. At least it’s warm. You sit up, stretching as you yawn before going through your social media accounts and checking up on the latest news.

-

Blue has had enough of you hiding away. He doesn’t know what’s gotten into you, and even though Papyrus keeps telling him to give you some time, he’s determined to get you out of that darn room. He’s holding a plate of pancakes, and a mug of coffee when he knocks on the door. He doesn’t hear a response, so he assumes you’re still asleep and storms in. You jump, almost screeching from the sudden fright. You sigh loudly when you realize it’s Blue, reaching for your hearing aid and putting it on. Oh right, he forgot your were deaf. Oops.  
“HUMAN! I BROUGHT YOU SOME BREAKFAST! TODAY I’M TAKING YOU WITH ME TO GO CHRISTMAS SHOPPING”  
“Really Blue?”  
“YES. YOU CAN’T HIDE AWAY IN HERE FOREVER, Y/N”  
“Is that a challenge?”  
“NO.”  
You grumble quietly, thanking Blue when has passes the mug of coffee to you and places the pancakes and cutlery on your desk. “I EXPECT YOU TO BE READY BY 9” you nod, that’s reasonable. Though, sleeping rather than being up is a much more better idea, he’s right. What date is it? How many days have gone past? Oh my god you haven’t showered since the first day back at the florist shop. You must stink! You check the date, gawking at your phone when you read that it’s the 18th. You chug down the coffee, only eating a couple bites from the pancakes, before grabbing a change of clothes, two towels, and start rushing to the shower.

Blue jumps as you sprint past him, feeling proud when he hears the bathroom door (almost) slam shut. “WHAT’S WITH ALL THE LOUD NOISES” Black screams up the stairs. Blue laughs, before heading down to the game area and the other bedrooms.  
“I GOT THE HUMAN OUT OF THEIR ROOM!”  
“THAT DOESN’T EXCUSE ALL THE COMMOTION”  
“Yeah he’s got’a point. Some of us like ta sleep you know” Red yells from his room.  
Blue rolls his eyes. “IT’S NOT GOOD TO COOP YOURSELF UP IN YOUR ROOM”  
Black shrugs, humming as he walks past. “I’M GOING TO MAKE BREAKFAST. AGAIN. BECAUSE SOME NUMBSKULLS CAN’T GET THEIR BONEY-ASSES OUT OF BED”  
“Hey! I’m not a boney donkey!”  
“THAT’S NOT WHAT- YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU CAN STARVE”  
Black storms upstairs, and Blue looks around for a moment before going back upstairs behind Black. Blue bounds outside, stopping next to Edge. “DO YOU NEED ANY HELP?” “ME, THE TERRIFYING AND MAGNIFICENT PA-EDGE? NEEDING HELP?” Blue nods. He grumbles, passing a watering can to Blue as Edge holds the hose. “WHATEVER. JUST STAY OUT OF MY WAY OR YOU’LL GET A FACE FULL OF WATER.”

You feel so much better after the shower, feeling refreshed and for once not like a piece of trash. You hum happily as you chuck your dirty clothes in the washing basket, taking the towels outside to hang up to dry for your next shower. You flinch when Blue is next to you, suddenly talking quite loudly. “ARE YOU READY, Y/N?” You feel something draped across your back, shoulders and arms, making you realize ‘holy shit i’m only wearing a tank top with these leggings’. You thank Blue for not saying anything, and covering you up. You’re definitely uncomfortable with people seeing the damage there, so Blue covering you up means a lot. You aren’t ready to tell anyone.  
Blue lets you run off, probably to put something over your shirt. He hasn’t seen anything like your skin, it’s almost scary to look at. Your shoulders and arms probably look the worst out of everything, he thinks to himself. ‘I should ask Papyrus about that, he might know something’. He makes sure to ask Papyrus when he gets home, walking inside and waiting at the bottom of the stairs going up the the second floor. He grins when he sees you rushing down the stairs. You have a rather cute, thin-fabric, black cropped sweater over your top. You both walk to his motorbike, you hop on behind him. You don’t know what to do, because technically trying to hold onto him wont work since he’s a skeleton, right? “HUMAN, YOU CAN WRAP YOUR ARMS AROUND MY WAIST. IT’LL BE FINE” You almost start to ask about the logic to it, but instead opt to wrap your arms around his waist. You’re almost shocked to find it’s solid, as if he actually has a body. Probably magic. Definitely magic. You huff “I’m ready”.

For half of the ride, you weren’t able to enjoy it. For most of it, the helmet kept touching your hearing aid which caused it to whistle, and Blue wouldn’t pull over so you could take your hearing aid off. Arriving at Queensgate mall and being able to take the helmet off, feels like a breath of fresh air.  
You both walk through the carpack, entering the mall. Fake bushes, covered in fairy lights and baubles, hang from the ceilings. It’s so adorable, and it makes you feel a little giddy. You realize how you barely know most of the skeletons. You only know Papyrus, when you think about it. What do you get everyone for Christmas?? You want to at least get them a something each, as a thanks for letting you stay and tolerating your shit. Infact, not just letting you stay, but letting a stranger (you) stay. You have an idea of what you want to get for Papyrus, an inkling of ideas for Stretch and Sans, actually you have a good idea for Edge too.  
You and Blue are talking loudly, laughing about something as you both walk into JayJays.  
“THIS PLACE LOOKS COOL!”  
You laugh, nodding “one of my favourite clothing stores. You walk over to one of the racks at the back, Blue following you. You start looking through some shirts, pulling out a couple that you thought were cute, showing them to Blue. “Would this suit me?” You ask quietly, holding up a light grey crop top with a cactus on the top side. Blue nods enthusiastically, pulling out a pair of grey shorts to go with it. “YOU SHOULD TRY THEM ON AND SHOW!” You look away, biting your lip. He's already seen your.. upper torso, it won't hurt to try them on, plus, it might be fun.  
You walk to the changing room, taking the time to muster the courage as you stare at the mirror. You can see some scars on part of your exposed stomach, a few also showing past the shorts. It's fine. He didn't judge you this morning, he won't judge you now. You take a deep breath as you open the door. “B-blue?” “I'M HERE!” “Can y-you c-come in h-here?” “OF COURSE!”  
As Blue enters, he understands why you didn't want to step outside. He can see some more scars, and the ones on your upper torso that are exposed are easier to inspect. He has to hold back the urge to reach out and touch some of the scars, fascinated by how they look. You cough uncomfortably, making Blue realize he's been staring at you.  
“IT LOOKS AMAZING ON YOU!”  
“R-really? Even with..”  
Blue nods enthusiastically “OF COURSE, THEY ADD TO YOUR PERSONALITY AND UNIQUENESS, DARE I SAY THEY'RE BEAUTIFUL TOO”  
You look away, blushing slightly. “T-thanks Blue”. Blue leaves to give you space to change again, and as you leave he doesn't miss you quickly putting them on the rack next to the changing rooms. He says he'll meet you at the Warehouse when you mention you need to go toilet, and once you leave he grabs the clothes and brings them to the counter. They looked wonderful on you, and even if you were to shy or nervous to wear them, he may as well buy them for you anyway.

The rest of the day passes by in a flurry of messing around, searching for certain items, making each other try on different outfits and just having fun. Your stomach is sore from laughing, and your mouth is sore from smiling so much as you both walk up to the small, cute cafe nestled next to the warehouse. He makes you sit down near a more quiet area so you can hear him, also making you tell him what you'd like to eat. He isn't pleased by the simple “iced chocolate or a hot mocha works”, and gets you an apple and cream donut as well.  
He sits down across from you, grinning.  
“That Was Really Fun Y/N! Thanks For Hanging Out With Me” you nod, smiling gently.  
“Thank you for making me laugh. Also, for not judging me. I.. hm” you don't finish the sentence, rubbing your face with your hands.  
“You What?”  
“Nothing, Blue. Nothing. Just thinking too much” you chuckle anxiously.  
You both eat quietly, Blue made you eat the darn donut (not that it took much convincing, apple and cream donuts are the best), and as you both drink your drinks, you ask him about how he's able to eat food since he's a skeleton. You've wondered this for quite a while now, ever since you first saw Papyrus eat something.  
“OUR MAGIC CONVERTS HUMAN FOOD TO ENERGY THAT OUR MAGIC ABSORBS”.  
By the time you're both walking to the motorbike, you're absolutely exhausted. You have to try really hard not to fall asleep as you cling onto him.

-  
You sigh heavily as you drop the bags of items in the corner of your room before throwing yourself on your bed. You relax, falling asleep within seconds.

“HEY PAPYRUS! CAN WE TALK IN PRIVATE?” Papyrus looks at Blue, nodding “OF COURSE BLUE!”.  
Blue takes Papyrus to his room, closing the door behind them before sitting down on a hanging chair.  
“You Know Y/N? Uh.. Well This Morning, I Saw Their Back-”  
“YOU WHAT”  
“It Wasn't On Purpose! They Were Wearing A Tank Top After A Shower, So I Covered Them Up Before Anyone Else Could See. Where Did They Get All Of Those Marks And Scars?”  
Papyrus looks uncomfortable as he replies “I Will Not Tell You. That's For Them To Tell You When They Feel Comfortable To” Blue nods.  
“Is There A Way We Can Make Them Comfortable Enough To At Least Wear A T-Shirt? It's Boiling Hot, They Might Get Heatstroke This Summer”  
“I'll Try Talk To Them About It, Blue. But Other Than That, This Conversation Never Happened. Thank You For Covering Them Up And Not Asking Them Anything”  
“I Could Feel How Scared They Were When They Realized I Could See The Scars. I Wasn't Going To Make it Worse. I Respect Their Privacy” Papyrus smiles gratefully at Blue.  
“YOU'RE A GREAT BEST FRIEND BLUE, THANK YOU!”  
“ANYTIME, PAPYRUS!”  
They both laugh to each other, Papyrus goes downstairs while Blue goes to his room, grabbing the outfit he bought you. He quietly cuts the tags off, before folding them up neatly and walking into your room, which the door was open already, and placed them on your desk.

-

You're woken up by someone shaking your shoulder, the sound of loud squealing from your hearing aid making you realize you were asleep on it. You grumble quietly, waving your hands in front of you, trying to wave off whoever was shaking you awake. Instead of what you were trying to do, you feel your hand smack a piece of bone that definitely was not a hand, arm or leg. It takes you a second to realize you slapped the skele on the cheek, sitting up quickly. “Ohmygodimsosorry” Stretch laughs “don't worry 'bout it doll, I'm the same way”. You rub one of your eyes, yawning. “Why'd you wake me up?” “Dinner” you sigh, forcing yourself not to lie down again and sleep. “Fine, fine”.

You barely touched dinner, half asleep and struggling to care. You did, however, manage to down all of your meds. You settle down on Papyrus's lap on the couch after, falling asleep rather quickly. He doesn't move until everyone else has gone to bed, distracted by the show on TV.  
By the time Papyrus noticed that it was 12 am, everyone else was asleep. He turns the TV off, carrying you quietly and gently to your room. He tucks you in bed, but as he moves out of your reach you mumble, almost whining. Papyrus shakes his head, sighing as he takes his boots off before getting in next to you. You snuggle up close, clinging to him. You sleep, the occasional passing nightmare making you twitch or move.

-

You grumble when you're woken up by something moving, not awake enough to register what was happening, you cling tightly to the skeleton getting out of your bed. “Nn don't go” you mumble, feeling annoyed. “Warm” Papyrus chuckles. “There There Y/N. It's Time To Get Up”. You don't let go, and Papyrus opts to sit up in the bed instead of trying to get out of your grasp. You hum happily as you move yourself closer. How can a skeleton be so warm? That question will always bother you. Papyrus pat's your head gently, waiting for you to finally wake up a bit more.  
It takes a few minutes before you're at least half awake, and able to realize what's happening. You look up at Papyrus. “Oh my gosh I'm so sorry Paps-” you sit up quickly, almost whacking your head against his skull. He huffs quietly. “It's Fine Y/N! We Should Have Breakfast.” You nod, agreeing with him as your stomach rumbles. Papyrus is stopped by Blue as he walks down the hallway, Blue asking for help with something. You don't notice the cold air hitting your arms, as you walk down the hallway and stairs with a t-shirt and pajama pants on. By the time you've reached the coffee machine, you've passed by almost all of the skeles, a couple of them making a surprised sound. You ignore it, and as you manage to make your cup of coffee and have your first sip, and the caffeine kicks in, you realize why they made surprised noises. You can feel panic flood your chest, but you take a deep breath. It's fine, they've already seen it, there's no use in panicking over something you can't change.  
You stand stock still, looking down as you slowly drink your coffee. You can feel someone staring, and looking up you're surprised to see it's stretch. You shrink into yourself, feeling uncomfortable. This is one of the reasons you don't show your scars. People stare. Stretch realizes he's been staring, apologizing as he looks down.  
You can hear someone stomping to the kitchen, and someone saying “Wait-”. Black storms in, storming past you as he grabs a pan. He takes a moment to glance at you, not missing the scars lingering on your visible skin. “MORNING HUMAN” He says, in a sort of snappy tone. “U-uh morning Black” you stutter, going back to consuming your coffee.  
As Black waits for the oven to heat up, he stands next to you with has hands on his hips. “HUMAN, I HAVE SOMETHING TO SHOW YOU” He holds up an arm. “YOU SEE THE CRACKS, LINES AND CHIPS? THEY'RE FROM MY BATTLES. I KNOW YOU'RE UNCOMFORTABLE ABOUT YOURS, IT'S BLATANTLY OBVIOUS BY YOUR BODY LANGUAGE. JUST REMEMBER IT'S YOUR BATTLE SCARS. YOU WERE STRONG ENOUGH TO GET THROUGH WHATEVER BATTLE IT WAS” You look surprised at Black, and you can hear someone falling over and another person dropping a mug. “i-i uh-” you can't even respond, shocked and feeling a little teary eyed.

Black would never openly admit that seeing you with scars made him respect you a bit, despite you being a human. Clearly you're strong, someone who obviously knows how to win battles. Maybe you could both spar sometime. Black himself, is a little surprised by what he just did, but someone as strong as you should not be so shy and scared of showing scars. It shows how strong you are! At least, in his underground it does.

When Stretch heard what Black said, he accidently spat out his coffee. He also, had to try not to laugh when he saw Edge fall over and Sans drop his mug causing it to break upon impact with the ground. “God damnit that was my favourite mug” Sans grumbles as he inspects the damage. Edge managed to pull himself off the ground, looking a little shocked, only to fall over again. None of them have ever heard Black be nice to someone, in fact, couldn't that be considered a compliment since he did say they were strong? The entire house was practically silent.  
The only noise was coming from you drinking your coffee, and Black humming as he worked on making his breakfast. “DO YOU WANT ANY, Y/N?” You stare at the hash browns, your stomach growling loudly. You blush lightly from your stomach being rude, before nodding gently. “y-yes please”. You tell him how many you want when he asks, and you both stand there in silence. Then, you hear someone coughing and wheezing, with Edge yelling at Stretch to shut up. Sans walks past to grab a plastic bag and newspaper to clean up the shattered mug, and you wave a good morning to him.  
“Hey B-Black.. what are your hobbies?”  
“WELL OF COURSE YOU'D LIKE TO KNOW, MWAHAHA. I SPEND MOST OF MY TIME TRAINING, OTHERWISE I'M PLAYING TENNIS OR COOKING.. AND-.. NOTHING ELSE” His face lights up with purple magic when he covers up the end, and you look at him questioningly.  
“What else?”  
Black shakes his head, not responding. “WHAT ABOUT YOU.. HUMAN”  
“U-um well, reading, floristry studies and work, studying diseases, viruses and all that junk. That's probably it? I don't really.. do much”  
Black huffs “THATS ALL?”  
“Well.. I do some history work occasionally?”  
“WELL WHAT CERTAIN TOPICS OF HISTORY, HUMAN?”  
“World war I and II, pandemics, epidemics, disease outbreaks, geological events..”  
You ramble on, suddenly jumping to certain pandemics that have happened and going on a rant about how stupid the minister of health is.  
“OKAY, THAT'S ENOUGH HUMAN” his voice is a little bit softer, you had noticed him trying to hide a grin as you talked.  
“S-sorry”  
“DON'T BE SO PATHETIC TO APOLOGIZE, IT'S GOOD TO GET TO KNOW YOU” When he spits out the word Pathetic, there isn't any malice behind it. You smile, nodding.  
“I'd like to get to know you more, Black!”  
“OF COURSE YOU WOULD, I AM THE HORRENDOUS AND MALICIOUS BLACK AFTER ALL” He gives you a rather scary grin, which instead of intimidating you, makes you chuckle quietly.  
You break away from the kitchen, heading back to the lounge. You grin at the scene, Sans is still picking up the shards of his mug, mostly because he's been sulking over it. Stretch is dangling from the lounge light, and Edge is lying on the ground. “What the absolute-” you wheeze, having to hold back laughter. “Having a light nap there Stretch?” you hear Edge's muffled groan, and Black screeching from the kitchen. “Yknow it. How 'bout you come help me down, wouldn't wanna leave me hanging”. Sans makes a choked laughing sound as he listens to you both making puns, with you also denying to help him as you took a photo for Blue.

Papyrus walks into the house after quickly helping Blue in the garage, stopping in his tracks when he sees food everywhere, Black screeching, Edge lying face down on the floor, Stretch t-posing as he hangs from the lounge light, Sans muttering about how he already misses his mug as he cleans it up and you wheezing as you look at Stretch. “T-POSE TO SHOW YOU'RE SUPERIOR” You shout, Stretch laughing as he kicks his legs. It's at that moment that Edge stretches his arms out, so that he's t-posing on the floor, which makes you laugh even harder, slipping on tomato sauce that's on the ground. Papyrus catches you, looking rather surprised. “WHAT IN THE NAME OF ASGORE IS GOING ON IN HERE?” Papyrus exclaims. “War” “This ain't war, doll. Not when I already won since I'm the superior, Edge you were too late ya numbskull”.

Papyrus makes you all clean up the mess, even Black. Who, tried to argue with Papyrus, but apparently Papyrus knows how to be scary. Papyrus and Edge help Stretch down, you help Sans with the spilt coffee, and help clean up all of the food.

You hear Sans groan, cursing. “LANGUAGE” Papyrus snaps. “What's wrong?” You look at Sans. “Forgot we're having a visitor this afternoon” he mumbles. “IS IT INK?” Papyrus asks excitedly. “Hm, yeah”. You remember back when Papyrus told you about everyone, nodding to yourself. “To plan Christmas day. Ink wants to bring everyone along” Sans huffs.  
After, you put a sweater on before Red or Mutt can see you and spend the day lounging around, occasionally helping a skele out with something or just generally getting to know them. You and Sans had a wonderful conversation about Astronomy, and you excitedly talked about White Holes. You also help Edge tend to his garden, talking about favourite plants and what not. It was a peaceful few hours until Red arrived, picking a fight with Stretch over something you couldn't hear. Papyrus kept you well away from it, leaving Blue, Edge and Black to deal with it. The end of the argument was when Black screeched very loudly to “SHUT UP THIS INSTANT YOU MONGRELS AND GET OVER YOURSELVES”.

When Ink arrived, you were cooking in the kitchen by yourself. Papyrus was outside, sparing with Blue. Sans was reading a book on the porch, Black and Edge were talking in the lounge, Mutt was watching TV and Red was sulking in his room. You hum to the song you're listening to on your headphones, swaying your hips to the beat. You mumble the lyrics as you cut up some garlic and onion, before throwing them in a pot with oil. You keep it on a low heat, breaking up the mince. It's at that moment that Ink pops out of nowhere next to you, scaring you almost out of your skin as you screamed. “Woah! Woah there. Hi! I'm Ink!” You stare at Ink, both utterly shocked and still recovering from the fright. Sans had teleported over as soon as you screamed, and Papyrus and Blue were rushing inside.  
“Geez Ink, didn't need to scare the poor enby like that”. You smile gently when you hear him use enby, clearly he's been doing some research.  
“Heh I didn't realize s-they were there” ink awkwardly scratches the back of his neck, before scribbling down a note on his scarf ('they/them. Don't forget’).  
You pout, making a shooing motion so you can put the mince in the pot before the onion and garlic burnt. Ink takes the hint, moving out the way.  
“I'm Y/N, by the way. Nice to meet you Ink” you huff.  
“Nice to meet you too! Sorry for giving you a fright”.  
Ink leaves you alone from then on, staying in the lounge while talking to Sans as Papyrus and Blue went back outside to continue sparing (after they checked if you were okay, of course).

You feel proud as you pull out the lasagna you made, the top being just perfectly golden brown, the smell of cheese, pasta, tomato, herbs and mince wafting from it. “Dinners ready!!” You call out, putting the lasagna on the table in the center for everyone to get a helping. It's been an hour and a half, Ink was invited to stay for dinner so he graciously accepted. You'd be lying if you said Ink didn't catch your interest. The splotch of Ink on his cheek, his weird eyelights, and the weird feeling to his personality brings out your curiosity.  
You both sit down at the table, everyone joining you both. You bask in the praises and thank yous from most of the skeles, proud that they like your cooking. You start talking to Ink, asking about him and who he is.  
“Well.. I'm the pr-”  
“Ink” Sans warns.  
“Haha.. well I'm an artist” he mumbles, he'll tell you the truth later.  
“Oh that's cool! What kind of art do you do?”  
“All sorts! Wet and dry mediums, my most common medium is probably wet; I use acrylic paint a lot, and ink”.  
“Your name definitely suits you” you giggle.  
“SO, WHO'S COMING FOR CHRISTMAS?” Blue asks, buzzing in his seat.  
“Well.. So far Dream, Dance bros, horror bros, Fresh and there might be a new pair you'll be meeting. They're both a bit more timid, but are very lovely” Ink lists off.  
“I GET TO SEE CROOKS AGAIN! NYEH I CAN'T WAIT” Papyrus looks rather excited. You giggle, shaking your head. Cute.  
“So.. who are the new guys?”  
“.. well uh, their creator abandoned them within two months of the project, and just recently has picked it back up about a year or two later. They haven't really been able to develop as characters, because you know how unfinished and abandoned AU's are like! But now they're settling in, and their creator seems interesting. I haven't personally been able to talk to them, or interact with them yet, but I can tell they're determined to get the AU soaring high, just as high as the under- hm aboveground is…” he continues rambling, and almost all of it doesn't digest in your mind. AUs? As in Alternate Universes? That's something you'll pry Papyrus about later. It takes a minute or so for Ink to suddenly stop talking, completely forgetting his sentence.

Ink helps you clean up, before saying goodbye to everyone and disappearing into thin air. ‘Ink is really cool’ you muse, thinking through the evening. You deal with all of your night stuff before jumping on the couch, laughing when Edge yelps. You feel safe around everyone, except Red and Mutt. Red and Mutt make you a little uncomfortable, but everyone else feels like a security blanket already. You hum happily, leaning against Papyrus. You watch TV for about an hour before going to bed, kissing Papyrus on the cheek and waving goodbye to everyone else and then heading upstairs.

“Just friends, huh?” Red scoffs out. Papyrus looks at Red, offended.  
“Only Friends. You Know, Not All Affection Is Romantic Or Sexual” Papyrus snaps back, and Red leans forward.  
“Bullshit”  
Edge, Sans, Mutt and Stretch watch carefully, ready to step in as soon as something happens.  
“ONLY YOU CAN THINK THAT EVERY SIGN OF AFFECTION IS ROMANTIC OR SEXUAL WHEN YOU'RE SUCH A FUCKING WHORE” Black snarls at Red.  
Papyrus Gapes, Edge looks absolutely stunned and Mutt looks like he's fainted.  
“NO NEED TO USE SUCH LANGUAGE, BLACK” Blue says.  
“RED NEEDS TO LEARN HIS PLACE, HE CLEARLY DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO RESPECT PEOPLE'S PRIVACY”.  
“Me? A fucking whore?” Red laughs, his grin darkening. “Have you taken a look at ya’self big guy? You're such an attention whore, always looking for praise for your skills and 'strength’ while hiding behind that fake mask of confidence and thinking you're so mean and horrible. Well guess what you fuckin failure, you aren't fuckin strong, you're weak” Red spits out.  
Edge and Blue jump up as soon as Black summons bones.  
“Okay okay guys let's calm down, don't want to wake doll upstairs now do we” Stretch says trying to calm them both down.  
Black let's his bones disperse at Stretch mentioning you, glaring.  
“SANS, WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A VERY VERY BIG TALK AFTER THIS” Edge yells at Red, and at hearing Edge use Reds real name, he knows he fucked up big time.  
“Y-yes boss”.  
Papyrus hasn't moved. He has to will his magic to calm down, not wanting to accidentally summon a few bones and dust Red.  
As Red walks past Black, Black grabs him by the collar and whispers threateningly to Red. “If you even so much as touch them, you're dust. Got it?” Red just scoffs, shoving himself away from Black. “Whatever tough tits”.  
Sans sits next to Papyrus, asking if he's alright. Papyrus just nods, saying he's going to bed.

Papyrus does go to bed, but not in his. He changes into his pajamas before going to your room, knocking on the door frame before remembering you're deaf. He walks over to your bed, lightly shaking you. You open your eyes as you wake up. “Papyrus?” You mumble. Papyrus nods, and you quickly put on your hearing aid. “Is everything alright Paps?” Papyrus shakes his head, and you tell him to get in. You don't ask questions or pry, instead you tell him a story you barely remember from a cartoon, rubbing the back of his skull gently as he holds you close. You can hear him sniffling a little, and by the end of the story he's asleep. You frown, looking at the wall. “Whoever hurt you Paps, I will hurt them back” you whisper, giving his skull a small kiss before taking your hearing aid off and drifting off into sleep.


	6. Christmas Riot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas. A wonderful day of the year.
> 
> Red continues to still be a little shit (I feel so bad for making him such a prick in this)
> 
> *TW: MISGENDERING

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit it's fucking done!!! Hdgshhshsjsb I did basically all of it today, I kinda put my foot down on myself,, hhh
> 
> I hope this is alright!!  
> Also I feel really bad about how it's almost been two weeks aksnjsjdjf I'm so sorry,,, I've been in this weird pond of depression lately, not to mention I had to go to a funeral three days ago ajshsjshd
> 
> Either way I'm feeling a tad better today, a bit more lighter.
> 
> Also!!! My sons!!!! Jshsksjd I'm so giddy,, I have an au that's been in the works for ages,, and I haven't really done much atm on the project but either way they're here in the chapter!! Snow and Winter are from my au Skytale.  
> Hopefully I can get the first chapter of Skytale out at some point.
> 
> **TW:  
> MISGENDERING

When you had found out it was Red that made Papyrus cry, you were furious. Stomping down the stairs, encountering red who's in the kitchen, you took a deep breath. Sans, Mutt and Blue are sitting at the table discussing Christmas, while Edge waters his flowers, Papyrus is at a friend's place to train, stretch is working and you don't know where Black is. The group at the table had turned to watch you as they saw you storm past, Blue muttering a quiet “oh no”. Before you could stop yourself, or take a moment to calm down, you slapped Red as hard as you could. The entire house was dead silent, Red looking at you in shock while you have a hand over your mouth. “Shit”. As soon as you say the word, all hell breaks loose. Red almost impales you with bones, thankfully Sans had managed to teleport over and out in the nick of time, Mutt was trying to calm Red down and Blue was putting up defences. The defences weren't really needed, until Red summoned gaster blasters.  
You cling onto Sans as you land outside on the lawn, almost bowling into Edge. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING” He barks, taking a moment to put the watering can down.  
“stars y/n, do you have a bloody death wish or something?”  
“HE MADE PAPYRUS CRY- I DIDN'T HAVE THE INTENTION OF SLAPPING HIM WHEN I WAS WALKING OVER TO HIM??”  
Edge stares at you both, confused. “SLAPPED WHO?”  
“....”  
“Red”  
“YOU SLAPPED MY BROTHER?!”  
“HE MADE PAPYRUS CRY!”  
Edge takes a deep breath, trying to be sensible about this.  
“Y/N, I Will Talk To My Brother. But Listen Here, You Owe Me Big Time, And Even Though He Made Papyrus Cry, It's No Reason To Hit Him” Edge says in a low voice. You nod, rubbing your arm. You can feel the guilt swarm you as you thank Edge.

-

You yawn loudly, grabbing your hearing aid and putting it on before rolling over and draping an arm over a skeleton. You sigh, relaxing. You can feel an arm wrapping around you, like a small hug. “Merry Christmas Y/N!” You smile, opening your eyes. “Merry Christmas to you too”. You can hear a lot of loud noises and commotion down stairs, which reminds you that there's a big dinner tonight, with extra visitors. You're a little worried, considering Red is still pissed at you, despite you apologizing constantly. Papyrus doesn't like being away from you for too long now, after coming home and finding you hiding in his room (which, turns out you were in there most of the day, working on an essay on your laptop you wanted to finish so next year you could start term 1 with a bang), and finding out what happened.  
“You Ready For A Busy Day?” Papyrus asks. You nods grinning.  
“Of course! I even picked out a summer dress for today last night. In fact, I'm pretty sure you've mentioned it being your favourite dress of mine”  
“THE FLORAL ONE?”  
“Yeah!”  
“OF COURSE IT'S MY FAVOURITE, YOU'RE PASSIONATE ABOUT FLOWERS, PLUS IT SUITS YOU REALLY WELL” he says with a light blush on his cheeks. You giggle, not hearing the quiet “Though Everything And Anything Looks Good On you”.  
“I'm flattered! The amazing and great Papyrus saying it suits me? You make me swoon” you say jokingly, rolling over with a hand on your forehead.  
Papyrus laughs, ruffling your hair as you laugh in return.  
Your joking ends when there's a loud knock on the door. “Come in!” You say loudly, sitting up. Your door opens, and Stretch walks in.  
“Breakfast is ready, kiddos”  
“Thanks Stretch” he nods before leaving, closing the door behind him.

Papyrus helps you get ready, since you can't button the back up. The dress is black, flowers of all colours littering the dress. It goes down to your knees, and covers your arms. Your shoulders will be exposed a little, since it goes across your chest and shoulders, but you're starting to care less about the scars (though yesterday you really cared. Why can't this stuff stay static?).  
He goes to his room to get changed, you wait outside his room. Once he's done, you both walk down to the lounge and kitchen. There's hash browns, bacon, eggs, sausages and cereal on the table, and you happily grab a couple of hash browns while thanking Blue and Black.  
You sit on the couch, Papyrus sitting next to you, you smile gently as you see Sans sorting out the presents under the tree into groups - a pile for each skeleton. While you're not looking, Papyrus can't help but stare at you, your smile addictive, the freckles covering your cheeks looking like a forest floor during autumn, the way you look so relaxed in this moment. He forces himself to look away, feeling overwhelmed by Aesthetic Attraction. He can feel magic dusting his cheekbones. Mutt is sitting near you, and you have a small conversation about stuff that's happening at the moment. Papyrus quietly grabs his phone from his shorts pocket, unlocking it and loading chrome. The AVEN website is already up, and he looks through the forums, for explanations or experiences about QPRs, wanting to learn more and make sure he really wants to be one.  
As he's busy on his phone, you finish your conversation with Mutt and start talking to Blue, both of you feeling giddy and hyping each other up. You're feeling both anxious and excited to meet the other visitors that will be arriving within the next few hours.

When you've finished breakfast, you start working on the leg of lamb that's been marinating overnight. It can slow cook throughout the day, and be ready for dinner. The chicken is a different story.. but it's best to leave that alone. Papyrus said he wanted to work on the chicken. You put on headphones, leaving your hearing aid so you can hear if anyone needs help with something or if someone else is in the kitchen. You hum along to one of your favourite Avicii songs, making sure the lamb is sitting in the tray properly before putting it in the oven. You notice a couple of the skeles hanging out in the back, one of them inflating a small pool, the other sitting on the swing. You can hear everyone on the first floor, surprised that a couple haven't gone downstairs to use the game room. You bump into Sans as you leave the kitchen, grinning tiredly. “Merry Christmas Sans” “you too kid”. You head to the deck, wanting to stare at the bay and be alone for a bit. The song changes to something else, a song that makes your chest ache. You open the sliding door, stepping out on the small deck before closing the door and sitting down. The sun is streaming from behind the house, causing the deck to be colder, because of the shade. You don't hear the sliding door open and close, distracted by the view and music. Someone's - Papyrus's, loud voice makes you jump.  
“Y/N! I WANTED TO TALK! It's… Important” you nod, smiling gently.  
“What is it, Paps?”  
“I-i Wanted To Ask If You'd Like To.. Be In A Relationship..?”  
“A relationship?!”  
“P-platonic”  
It all clicks into place, and you mumble 'oh’ quietly. “A qpr...” you look away, unsure about how you feel about the situation. A qpr? You mean, it's not like a romantic relationship… but still.. maybe we might end up in a peach fuzz? As a way of getting everyone off our backs when we're affectionate.. that might actually be nice.. plus there'd be no difference in how we act towards each other as it is..  
“I don't.. know, Papyrus. Is it alright if you give me time to decide?”  
“Of Course! Take Your Time Y/N!”  
Papyrus knows that this sort of proposal can be overwhelming. QPRs can be difficult, depending on each person's idea on what's platonic and what's romantic. They also leave open a space for people to berate, tease or insult the relationship; the usual “but it's a romantic relationship!”, “just say you're dating and stop being a snowflake” or “if it's platonic then why are you both so close and affectionate?”. He understands you wanting to think it through.  
You both sit in silence for a few minutes, before loud greetings can be heard. You turn off your music, taking the headphones off before standing up. “OH! IT'S SERIF AND LATIN!” Papyrus exclaims, opening the door and rushing over to give Latin a big hug. Latin is taller than Papyrus by at least a foot. There's a quiet, shy sans skeleton next to Latin, who you gather is Serif. He's hiding in his hoodie a little, the hood up. Cute. You walk over to where Blue, Sans, Mutt and Red are. They're standing around Serif, saying hellos and asking quick questions. Edge, Black, Stretch and Papyrus are around Latin. You walk up to where Serif is. “H-hey!” You say, Sans looking up at you before moving to the side so Serif can properly see you. “I'm y/n”. Serif nods, his face flushed slightly. “Serif. Serif the skeleton”. You let him catch up with the others, walking over to Latin. You stand next to papyrus quietly, watching as Latin rambles on to Black about something. Seconds later a couple of other skeletons walk in; a sans in a galaxy themes outfit by the looks of it, a papyrus just like the sans, and then a pair of rather scary, nightmare-ish skeletons next to the galaxy pair. You see Edge wave at them, The tall scary skeleton waving back.  
“Heya cosmic, nebula. Welcome back. And welcome to you two too. Haven't seen you guys in a while huh. How's things?”  
“Better than before that's for sure, now that we're above ground in my universe.”  
“Doesn't mean there's not a lot of bloodshed though” Axe mumbles after his previous sentence.  
“BROTHER, NO NEED TO BE SO DEPRESSING WHILE WE'RE VISITING! WE'RE DOING WONDERFUL, THANK YOU” Sans chuckles, nodding.  
“What about you both?” He asks, nodding towards cosmic and nebula as Crooks and Axe walk over to talk with the others.  
“Hm interesting that's for sure”  
“How so?”  
“Unexpected meteor showers, some strange astronomical things that well, scientifically doesn't make sense. We're workin on figuring it out..”  
“YEAH, DESPITE HOW MUCH I TELL HIM TO TAKE BREAKS AND EAT! I NEVER THOUGHT I'D EVER HAVE TO TELL SA-COSMIC TO TAKE BREAKS!”  
“Heh.. yeah..”  
“Hm interesting”

After meeting the horror bros, you became rather attached to crooks. He looks downright terrifying, but he's really just a big sweetheart. You're sitting on a chair that's behind the pool, your feet dangling in the pool. Blue has opted for lying in the pool; moaning about how hot it is, despite skeletons not being able to feel temperature much, but then again you don't blame him. It's unbearably hot for a summer day.  
“So, uh, hobbies?” You ask Crooks.  
“KNITTING!” You're heart melts at the excited look on his face as he starts talking to you about all the details and differences in knitting. You nod along attentively, asking questions here and there.

“I have never seen 'im so happy before” Axe mumbles to Stretch. Stretch shrugs.  
“They do magical things, as far as I've seen and heard” Stretch chuckles.  
“They even slapped Red the other day. Blue told me everything.”  
Axe gapes. “They slapped Red?? And they're still here???”  
“Yep”  
“...woah”  
“Let's just uh, hope they don't ever try to slap Black or me, huh”  
Stretch nods “now that would be horrendous. Black seems to have a small soft spot for them but, we all know he won't hesitate to kill someone if they do such a thing”  
“Mhm.. play'n with fire”  
“Exactly” Stretch stretches, groaning. “Mm well I'm going to watch TV, you wanna join?” “Yeah, why not.”

Before anyone knows it, a bright coloured, 90’s themed skeleton skates in. “Oh duck it's Him” Red groans.  
“Who's that?” You ask Crooks.  
“WHY FRESH, OF COURSE!”  
“huh. Weird.”  
You watch Fresh quietly, as he walks around. He's put his skateboard against the wall in the lounge. He soon makes it to the small group of you, Crooks, Red and Blue at the pool. “'ey waddup broski's” you stare at him, trying to process what he just said.  
“Uh…. H- hi?” You say awkwardly, Red scowls.  
“What the hell d'ya want, parasite” he hisses.  
“That's not very cool, bro”  
“Hi Fresh” Blue mumbles as he looks up from the bottom of the pool.  
“So who's the rockin’ pie?”  
“Oh.. you mean Y/N?” Red wheezes.  
“If anything she's a pancake” you flinch at the different use of pronounced rubbing your arm.  
“Um-”  
“RED! STOP BEING SUCH A RUDE DEADWEIGHT” Blue yells.  
“What? Can't handle the truth about her?” Blue looks like he's about to explode, getting up quickly. Black is looking over from the chair he's sitting in, watching amusedly.  
“Now now ga- guys, it's not a big deal!” You say, trying to get Blue to calm down.  
Crooks places a hand on your shoulder, sighing. “It's no use, just let it happen” he mumbles.  
“I'LL GIVE YOU A PIECE OF MY DUCKING MIND, RED. YOU QUACK-PHOBIC PIECE OF QUACK”  
“FRESH FOR DUCK SAKE STOP SENSORING MY WORDS.”  
Fresh sighs, nodding before leaving to head inside.  
“NOW LISTEN HERE, RED. IF YOU DON'T STOP BEING SUCH A QUEERPHOBIC PIECE OF SHIT, I'M GOING TO PHYSICALLY DUST YOU” Blue shouts. Everyone goes silent, Black is standing up from his seat, Edge and Sans are staring at them from the grill, Cosmic is stunned, Latin is rushing over and everyone else is just, as still as a statue in shock. Red has a lazy grin on his face.  
“Nah, you're too soft and innocent for t'at”  
“Are You Sure About That?” Blue hisses, summoning a sharp-pointed bone.  
“STOP. BOTH OF YOU JUST STOP” Crooks yells, his tone demanding.  
“IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE A WONDERFUL, LOVING AND FRIENDLY, CHRISTMAS DAY. NOT A BATTLE GROUND.”  
Crooks looks down at you, grabbing you and gently shoving you in the opposite direction of the pool.  
“Go Stand With The Others” he mumbles as Latin watches them wearily, walking with you to the group at the grill.

It took awhile for the situation to calm down, especially when Papyrus came storming out of the house after using the toilet and looked unbelievably scary with how absolutely furious he was at Red, and Blue. After that, despite it being Midday, a few skeles grabbed an alcoholic beverage. You don't blame them. You'd have a drink too, but you'd rather wait until dinner.

After about 20 minutes, Ink, Dream and a pair of rather cosy looking skeletons arrived just in time for lunch. You tried introduce yourself to the pair, in fact everyone was. They hadn't met these two yet. The sans one stood behind the rather tall, Papyrus skeleton. The tall Papyrus skele is wearing a thick, baggy white sweater, a white scarf with light blue snowflakes on it, black leggings, light blue leg warmers and snow boots with fluff on the edge of them. The sans skele is wearing a white jacket that had light blue fluff around the hoodie, like, a lot of fluff. He's wearing light blue shorts that reach his knees, and sneakers with white leg warmers.  
“HI! I'M PAP- UH I'M SNOW, AND BEHIND ME IS MY BROTHER WINTER!” You wave gently at them both.  
“He...y” Winter quietly mumbles hiding in his hoodie.  
“PLEASE DON'T MIND HIM, HE'S RATHER SHY” Snow says.  
“HE WILL PROBABLY STAY WITH ME THE ENTIRE TIME. PLEASE, IF HE WANTS TO BE ALONE, LEAVE HIM ALONE. HE GETS OVERWHELMED VERY EASILY” Snow gives a soft smile, patting Winters’ skull.  
“WELL, LUNCH IS READY! COME ON EVERYONE, GRAB WHAT YOU WANT” Blue shouts happily.

As you're sitting on the couch next to Winter and Snow, you end up talking to Snow about a lot of things. Hobbies, What's it like in his universe, etc.  
“WELL, YOU SEE, I DO THE TRANSPORTING OF ALL THE FOOD THAT IS HARVESTED IN THE RUINS! TORIEL LIVES IN THE RUINS, SHE MAKES HER OWN FOOD AND RESOURCES, GROWS DIFFERENT VEGES AND FRUITS. EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SATURDAY SHE LEAVES CRATES OF FOOD FOR ME TO TRANSPORT TO ALL OF THE TOWNS IN THE UNDERGROUND!” You nod as you listen.  
“Why though?”  
“BECAUSE OF THE EXTREME WEATHER IN EACH TOWN, THE RUINS IS REALLY THE ONLY PLACE WE CAN GROW FOODS.”  
“Ah okay.”  
“It's Also Part Of My Duty As A Member Of The Royal Guard” he says, giggling.  
“YOU'RE IN THE ROYAL GUARD?!” Blue asks loudly.  
“YEP!”  
“WOAH THAT'S SO COOL!” Blue's eyelights turn into bright blue stars.  
“Hey that's pretty awesome” Stretch adds.  
“I'm Also In The Royal Guard” Edge says rather quietly.  
“Ah I See! What Are Your Duties Like?”  
“I'd Rather Not Say”  
“Boss does missions where he spies on people suspicious, dust those that are a threat to the safety of others, stop fights, all that stuff” Red chuckles.  
Edge looks embarrassed, staring at his plate of food. The room has gone pretty quiet except for the conversation Fresh, Crooks, Serif, Latin, Cosmic and Mutt are having together.  
“Hm.. that's rough” Stretch mumbles.  
“I WORKED HARD TO GET INTO THE ROYAL GUARD… But I Don't Exactly Enjoy The Constant Violence” Black nods understandably.  
“Yeah, I Agree. It Took Months To Feel Safe While Being Kind, And Though It's Hard For Me To Act Friendly And Nice, It's Relaxing”  
“Exactly.”

Lunch finishes after a while, a different topic coming up during lunch. As everything is put away and you've checked the lamb, you join the others in the lounge for presents. You had put the presents you got for most of them at the very back. Gentle music is playing in the background, passion pit you think.  
Everyone is given their piles, your pile only has five presents, everyone except for the guests have more presents, which doesn't bother you. You're just grateful and surprised that you even have Christmas gifts from others.  
You wait to open yours, wanting to pay attention to how the others react with the present you got them. Papyrus absolutely loves his present, you got him a pasta machine, Sans seemed to really appreciate the book on constellations and meanings you got him, a cookbook with a light blue apron for Blue, A dark red sweater with “Fuck off” on it for Edge which he seemed to really like, a different cookbook and a light purple apron for Black and a bottle of honey with a homemade notebook of recipes based on honey for Stretch.  
Opening your presents, you got a small but thick history book of all the worst natural disasters since 1900 from Papyrus, a mug with a virology pun on it from Sans, a book of tropical plants from Black and a cd you've been looking for for ages from Blue.  
You thank them all excitedly, looking through the books before putting everything away.

You ask Papyrus for some help, heading to your room. You want to wear something more.. exposing, you feel like you're being fried alive in this dress and you need him to put on some waterproof concealer to make your scars less visible. With all the new people, you don't really wanna show your scars to them. You put on a black, loose tank top with a pair of black and white shorts before letting Papyrus work on covering the visible scars. You since occasionally, the scar tissue being sensitive today. You then focus on your thighs and stomach, letting Papyrus leave. You quietly head downstairs after a couple of minutes, feeling anxious. What happened to the feeling of not caring today? Gosh darnit. You sigh heavily as you enter the lounge, heading outside and sitting at the pool again. This time Sans is sleeping in the pool, Cosmic, Fresh and Blue are filling the pool with rubber ducks as Sans sleeps.  
“Skeletons don't need to breathe, right? I mean, Blue slept in the water but eh”  
“Yeah, we don't need to breathe” cosmic replies, chuckling.  
You giggle as you help them fill the pool with rubber ducks, no longer able to see Sans underneath them. Fresh holds up an air horn, Blue snickering as he waits. Fresh suddenly presses down on the horn which makes you jump a little, and Sans quite literally shoot up into a sitting position. You can hear Stretch laughing behind you as he records it, Sans’ eyesockets both have a rubber duck in them. You have to hold onto Cosmic's shoulder to stop yourself from falling over from laughing so hard, almost tripping over Blue who's rolling on the ground laughing.  
You hear Edge snort as he takes a look at the commotion, which makes you laugh even harder, which also causes you to make a snorting sound, setting off a chain reaction and making the others laugh harder.

Once those involved calm down, some of you break off to work on dinner. You check the lamb sitting in the oven, grinning as Crooks joins to help you in prepping all the vegetables, as well as Winters’ quiet and timid voice asking if he can join in. You nod happily.

-

“...they just rub me the wrong way ya know?”  
“Not really”  
“Well.. I don't know. They make me agitated”  
“What, by existing?” Black scoffs at Red.  
“Look I don't know okay?! They just make me so… tense and confused! And they're so bloody ridiculous! You can't be that close physically without being somewhere in a romantic relationship!”  
“..I don't know if you know this Red, but Papyrus is Aromantic. He literally has an Aro flag on his wall in his room. Why do you think they both get so upset and offended?”  
“What, ya mean a special snowflake? That's bullshit. You can't just not feel a certain attraction”  
“Well, there are a few of us here who are living examples of that, Red. You might want to be careful who you say that to. You might not just get a slap next time” Black says gently, pushing back the hurt and anger building up.  
“Whateva” Black rolls his eyes, standing up.  
“I forgot to mention, you're lucky you're not dust after what you pulled earlier. Misgendering someone? Really? How pathetically low can you get, Red? Grow up, stop being such a useless, hurtful piece of shit” Black hisses at Red, walking off.  
Red huffs quietly, ignoring the stare from Dream. Dream excuses himself from the conversation he's having with Ink and Axe.  
“Go away, Golden Goody-two-shoes” Red grumbles as Dream sits next to him.  
“Well, you don't have to tell me anything! Just that your self-hatred and burning anger for a couple people here is really suffocating”  
“Mhm”  
Dream sits next to him quietly, letting him do what he wants, whether that's to talk, sit in silence or leave.  
After a while of silence, Red shakes his head.  
“Is it possible to hate yourself for questioning something about you? Or for feeling things you don't understand?”  
“Of course it's possible. Maybe you should do some research, on whatever it is you're questioning or feeling”  
“..are you sure?”  
“Yep. No one here judges, as far as I'm concerned apart from.. Mutt. Everyone is likely to be supportive”  
Red sighs deeply “fine.”  
Dream smiles gently. “You'll be fine, Red. Just focus on figuring yourself out and accepting yourself and others.”  
Dream gets up, leaving with a big smile as he hugs Ink.

“So uh well- I do moss- mostly..” he goes silent for a bit. “I help Al. Alphys. In the- lad- pab- lab” he trips over his words. You nod, looking down at him in interest.  
“I want to work at a Lab one day”  
“For what?”  
“Viruses, cultures, the affects, danger levels etc. It's so fascinating, don't you think?” You say as you mash the potatoes.  
“SOUNDS INTERESTING!”  
“I guy- guess” you chuckle quietly.  
“How's the asparagus and pumpkin going?”  
“G-good”  
“Dinner should be ready in 5 then! I'm going to start putting stuff on the table” you say, putting the lamb on the table, helping Papyrus put all the chicken next to the lamb, and putting the rest of food that's ready.

“DINNERS READY!” Crooks shouts. You let Winter sit next to you, Snow sitting next to his brother on the other side. As everyone sits down, Red hesitantly sits next to you which makes you both tense up and give him a side glance in confusion. You grab a helping of what you want, before digging in. It's awkward for you, in fact I'm pretty sure everyone is feeling awkward as the suffocating, anxious tension surrounds everyone from you and Red.  
“I didn't.. mean to upset you” Red mumbles quietly. You nod.  
“Alright?”  
You didn't know it could get even more awkward than it already was, thankfully Inks loud voice distracts everyone as you all except for Red and Winter, talk about favourite movies and shows.

Afterwards comes the desserts, as a group of you put away leftovers and dishes before bringing out clean bowls and spoons, and the desserts; pavlova, fruit salad, chocolate cheesecake and apple pie.

Blue, Ink, Papyrus and Crooks do the dishes, the rest of you lounging around the lounge. You're almost half asleep on the couch after eating so much, Having a small conversation with Snow again. Winter joins in a little, and when he manages to make you laugh with a joke his face lights up, a small very light blue dusting his cheeks.  
You tell him a joke in return, making him giggle. You both tell each other jokes for a while, Winter moving closer, feeling a bit more comfortable.  
Once the dishes are done, Papyrus sits next to Snow. Nebula also joins in the conversation they've started, as you continue to talk to Winter. You both start rambling about bands you both like, books you've both read, etc.

Eventually, as time passes, it starts getting dark and a few are already asleep. You're dozing off against Snow, Winter also leaning against you. You fall asleep when Papyrus puts a blanket around you three, also using the blanket to cover him as you all fall asleep against each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also thank you guys so much for all of the wonderful support!!!! Your comments have been making easier to get up everyday, ngl.


	7. Crooks has a beautiful smile, yet some wont give a glance to see so

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah hecK I KNOW ITS BEEN LIKE 5 MONTHS HDBFDSJ im so sorry guys, life has been chaotic, i've been dealing with so much these past few months, etc. 
> 
> Ive really missed working on this fanfic tbh, but from this chapter on im not fully sure how to approach the next chapter.

Waking up smothered by skeletons was not what you expected, especially waking up in a rib cage. You can hear loud snoring, someone hugging your leg, someone on top of you and bones beneath you digging into your muscles. Darn bones. You can hear someone snickering, a phone camera going off.  
“Uh… can uh, someone help me?” The snickering turns into wheezing.  
“Oh shit doll, you're awake”  
“Please, I feel like I'm being stabbed and suffocated”  
“Okay, okay, hold on doll, I got ya”  
You sigh quietly as you feel someone helping you move out of the ribcage, and as you try to shuffle off the skeles hip, in a moment of clumsiness, falling off the couch and dragging the skeleton on top of you and the one holding onto your leg with you. Stretch can't help himself, bursting into loud laughter.  
“Fuck that hurt” you mumble.  
“Well.. That Was Not Fun” Blue grumbles from next to you, him being the skele sleeping on top of you. You look down at your leg, a sleeping Black attached to it and somehow still asleep despite the loud noise and fall. Even Stretch's laugh woke up Sans, Red, Winter and Russ.  
“What… in the world” Red grumbles, sitting up and looking over at the group of you. You can hear Russ wheezing loudly, staring at you all from the other couch.  
“Doll, are you okay?” Stretch asks quietly.  
“Mm… if I had coffee maybe… my ass and head hurt like fuck though” you mumble in reply.  
Blue helps you up, without disturbing Black who just clutches onto your leg tighter as you move onto the couch in a sitting position.  
“What time is it?” Sans whines.  
“5:30”  
“SERIOUSLY?” Blue exclaims.  
“WHY IS THERE SO MUCH FUCKING NOISE” Edge snaps, sitting up.  
“I WAS ENJOYING MY BEAUTY SLEEP”  
“not like you need it, Edge” you say, chuckling.  
“OF COURSE I DON'T, BUT IT'S GOOD TO SLEEP”  
The loud talking makes Sans and Red groan, you and winter jumping at the clanging sounds coming from the kitchen as Stretch makes coffee.  
“You alright, Winter?” You ask softly. He nods slowly, shuffling over until he's against you.  
“You can go back to sleep, if you want” you say as you wrap an arm around him.  
He dozes off as Stretch comes over with mugs of hot chocolate, coffee and tea. He passes a cup of coffee to you and Sans, putting a mug on the coffee table for himself before giving mugs of hot chocolate to Blue and Edge and mugs of Tea to Red and Russ.

How everyone else slept through it you have no idea, especially when the group of you who were awake decided a game of truth or dare would be fun. In fact, you're still playing. A couple others had woken up, mostly from Edge screeching.  
“Black, Truth or Dare?” You say  
“Hmm.. I'd Say Dare, But I Have Been Almost The Entire Time So.. Truth”  
“Is it true that you volunteer at the SPCA in wellington?”  
“WHO-” he lets out a defeated sigh.  
“Yes, It's True”  
“Aww”  
“BUT! EDGE SOMETIMES COMES ALONG WITH ME” Black shouts, Edge's face lighting up red as he blushes.  
“That's so awesome, you two should be proud!”  
“You- You Think?” Edge asks tentatively.  
“Yes!” Now Black starts blushing, Edge's blush intensifying.  
“I WANT TO VOLUNTEER AT THE SPCA TOO BUT.. THEY WOULDN'T LET ME”  
“Why's that Crooks?”  
“I DON'T KNOW, I THINK SOMETHING TO DO WITH HOW I LOOK I THINK. AT SOME POINT I HEARD SOMEONE MENTION THAT MY TEETH HAD BLOOD ON THEM SO I MUST BE A THREAT” His voice is sad, you can hear the hurt.  
“Those Assholes!” You hear Nebula say quietly.  
“Well, you are no threat, Crooks. There's probably a pet shop nearby that we can go to today and talk about volunteering. How about that?”  
“REALLY?!”  
“Of course!” You say, laughing at how giddy Crooks looks.

Eventually, after another hour, you, Black and Blue left to the kitchen to make waffles for everyone. Some kept playing truth or dare, others rested, feeling exhausted, and there were those who didn't wake up at all who're still asleep. You all made a bunch of different batches; plain, plain with blueberries, chocolate, plain with chocolate chips, plain with strawberries, and a couple more.  
“WELL, I THINK BLUE IS RATHER DASHING OUT OF EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE”  
“BULLSHIT” You hear someone yell.  
“THANK YOU EDGE! WHETHER IT’S BULL-CRAP OR NOT, I APPRECIATE YOUR ANSWER!” Blue yells from the kitchen, next to you.  
“I Need To Stop Picking Truth..” Edge mumbles.  
You snort as you hear dream yelling a dare at Ink, that being “draw on fresh's face!”. You don't want to imagine what's gonna happen when Fresh wakes up.  
You focus on cooking the waffles, telling Blue and Black to go back to the lounge. You hum quietly, listening to everyone talking.  
“I DON'T WANT TO HUG HIM!”  
“WHAT'S WRONG WITH HUGGING BLUE?”  
“UH GUYS MAYBE A DIFFERENT DARE. IF BLACK DOESN'T WANT TO HUG ME THEN SAY A DIFFERENT DARE”  
“FINE!”  
You finish two of the batches.  
“I DARE YOU TO DO THE TITANIC POSE WITH SANS ON THE BALCONY!”  
You muffle your laughing as you hear everyone getting excited, some laughing, some yelling, and some groaning from those that have been woken up by the yelling.  
“AND, IT HAS TO BE ON THE TABLE ON THE BALCONY”  
You sigh, having a feeling that someone is going to get hurt. You hear Sans giggling as he gets up on the table, trying to balance. Everyone is watching from inside, the balcony door shut as Black start's climbing onto the table.  
“Don't let me fall, Jack” Sans says, chuckling.  
“Don't Make Me Push You Off This Balcony, Sans”  
You look over at everyone, grinning when someone starts playing the music from the scene. Unfortunately, their dare is cut short when a table leg snaps, making them both fall onto the balcony.  
“...Well”  
“Ow”  
“Waffles are almost finished!” You call out through the laughing, whining and complaining. You hear loud shuffling, some yelling and then the sound of a couple people running.  
“WAFFLES!” Papyrus shouts, grinning giddily.  
You finish up the rest of the batters, getting papyrus to take a few plates while you take the other plates, putting them on the table.  
“Help yourselves” you say, smiling as everyone slowly files over and grabs their choice of waffles.

A food fight almost broke out during breakfast, your neck had started aching from sleeping so awkwardly, and an argument about what drink is better has broken out. Of course. You slipped outside after a couple minutes, everyone starting to yell at that point. You’re sitting on the swing, watching it all from afar. After a few minutes, you see Red grumbling as he leaves the house, Blue on his shoulders. “SO, WHAT'S THE PLAN HUH?” You overhear Blue.  
“Not sure” Red mumbles, as Blue rests his chin on top of Reds skull.  
“I know you don't trust them, Red. How about just get to know them?”  
Red goes silent, mulling over Blue's words. He sighs heavily, nodding. “I'll try. But I don't know. They're.. weird” Red yelps as Blue lightly hits the side of Reds skull, frowning. “Red!”.  
Red laughs loudly, grinning.  
“Wanna come n help me with work today Blue?”  
“Sure! Why Not” Blue replies, nodding contently.

After the fight calmed down, Red and Blue took off. You showered and dressed, and waited for Crooks to be ready to head out.  
Crooks, dressed cosily in one of your baggy t-shirts and his shorts and boots, joins you at the door before heading out with you towards Blues old motorbike.  
“Hold on tight!” You exclaim after both of you put on a helmet and hop on the bike.

The ride was quiet, you could feel how anxious Crooks was the entire ride.

The Pet Shop is a lot cooler than outside, that’s for sure. As you enter, it feels as if you’re stepping into a freezer. “Hello!” You say brightly, getting one of the employee’s attention. “Hello, Ma’am, how may I help?” Your smile withers a little, but you reply with a voice as sweet as you can get it to sound. “My friend is looking to do some volunteer work” You motion to the tall, looming skeleton behind you, who’s staring at the fishes across the room nervously.  
“We aren’t looking for volunteers at the moment, sorry.”  
“But there’s a sign on the door-”  
“Again, we aren’t looking for volunteers. Sorry Ma’am.”  
You sigh frustratedly, nodding. “Okay then, thank you for your time” You say as you leave, Crooks following you dejectedly. “I’m sorry Crooks.”  
Crooks doesn’t reply, staying silent as you both continue to walk to the bike.

-

When you arrived home, Fresh, Dream, Nebula, Cosmic, Latin and Serif had already left. You can hear Snow and Blue downstairs, playing some sort of video game. Winters’ giggling, staring into a cup of coffee as Papyrus explains a story to him. “We’re home!” you call out, a bit of shouted replies and otherwise quiet replies hit you. You merely shrug, asking Crooks if he’d like a drink as you head to the kitchen to grab a cup of juice. He mutters no, walking outside to sit down quietly. You let out a heavy sigh, feeling bad that the pet place wouldn’t accept him to do volunteer work for them. You join Papyrus and Winter at the table.  
“Hey! How did it go?” Papyrus asks gently, sensing somethings’ up.  
“..Well.. let’s just say he’s pretty upset right now” you reply, rubbing your forehead.  
Winter glances at Papyrus solemnly, before getting up. “Snow and I- I have to go- now” Winter mumbles, and you look up at him and nod, standing up before reaching out your arms as an invite for a hug. He smiles gently, nodding before hugging you. You wave them goodbye as Ink takes them home before you and Papyrus go to check on Crooks and see how he’s doing.

You both end up spending 2 hours sitting in the backyard keeping Crooks company before he decided to go home. Your heart aches as he leaves.


End file.
